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Traditions of the Caddo 



Collected under the Auspices of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington 



BY 
GEORGE A. DORSEY 

CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM 




WASHINGTON, D. C: 

Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

1905 



Traditions of the Caddo 



Collected under the Auspices of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington 



GEORGE Af DORSEY 

CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM 







WASHINGTON, D. C: 

Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

1905 






Carnegie Institution of Washington 



Publication No. 41 



Gift 



WASHINGTON. D. C. 

PRESS OF JUOD & DETWEILER (INC.) 

1905 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 5 

1. The Creation and Early Migrations 7 

2. The Origin of Day and Night 13 

3. The Origin of Animals 14 

4. Coyote regulates Life after Death 14 

5 . Coyote and the Origin of Death 15 

6. The Second Man who came out of the Earth 17 

7. Snake-Woman distributes Seeds 18 

8. The Flood 18 

9. The Effeminate Man who introduced Strife 19 

10. The Origin of the Medicine-Men 20 

11. The Girl who married a Turtle 23 

1 2. The Man and the Dog who became Stars 25 

13. Evening-Star and Orphan- Star 26 

14. The Girl who married a Star 27 

15. The Girl who married a Star 29 

16. Lightning and the People 30 

17. The Brothers who became Lightning and Thunder 31 

18. Splinter Foot Boy 36 

19. Medicine-Screech- Owl 39 

20. Medicine-Screech-Owl 43 

21. The Orphan Boy who became a Wrestler 45 

22. The Dangerous Water Monster 46 

23. Slaying the Monsters by Fire 47 

24. Slaying the Monsters by Fire 48 

25. How the Buffalo ceased to eat Human Beings 50 

26. The Girl who had power to call the Buffalo 51 

27. The Old Woman who kept all the Pecans 52 

28. The Coward, the Son of the Moon 53 

29. The First War Party 54 

30. The Power of the Cyclone 56 

31 . How the Cannibal was destroyed 57 

32. The Young Men and the Cannibals 58 

33. Coyote and the Six Brothers 59 

34. The Death of the Cannibals 61 

35. The Man who made Arrows for Ghost 63 

36. The Lazy Boys who became the Pleiades 64 

37. The Lost Timber Spirits 64 

38. The Man who turned into a Snake 65 

39. The Woman who turned into a Snake 66 

40. How Owl fooled the Girls who wanted to marry the Chief 67 

41. The Poor Hunter and the Alligator Power 69 

42. The Boy who married a Mountain-Lion 71 

43. Bufifalo Woman 73 

3 



7*6 



?i' 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page 

44. The Girl who married Wild-Cat 76 

45. The Woman who tried to kill her Son 77 

46. The Jealous Husband 79 

47. The Turtle who carried the People away 81 

48. Why Dogs have Long Tongues 82 

49. Why Hawks have Thin Legs 83 

50. The Power of Buffalo and Bear 84 

51. How Rabbit stole Mountain-Lion's Teeth 85 

52. Rabbit and the Dancing Turkeys 86 

53. Adventures of Coyote 86 

54. Coyote escapes an Imaginary Foe 89 

55. Coyote goes Fishing 91 

56. Coyote hunts Geese 92 

57. Coyote imitates his Host 93 

58. Coyote imitates his Host 94 

59. Coyote, the Deer, and the Wind 95 

60. Coyote dives for Meat 97 

61. Coyote, the Geese, and the Woodpeckers 97 

62. Coyote and Rabbit kill a Buffalo 99 

63. Coyote, Mountain-Lion, and Rabbit 100 

64. Coyote becomes a Buffalo loi 

65. Coyote and the Turkeys 102 

66. Coyote's Eyes are replaced by Buckeyes 103 

67. Coyote and Turtle run a Race 104 

68. Coyote, Wild-Cat, and the Old Woman 105 

69. Coyote challenges the Snake 106 

70. Coyote turns into a Corn Mill 108 

Abstracta 109-136 



INTRODUCTION. 



T^HE Caddo tales here preseuted were collected during the years 
* 1 903- 1 905, under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington, and form part of a systematic investigation of the relig- 
ious system and ceremonial organization of the tribes of the Caddoan 
stock. 

The Caddo, numbering 530 in 1903, are of Caddoan stock, and since 
1859 have lived in western Oklahoma between the Washita and Cana- 
dian rivers, where they have been closely associated with the Wichita. 
They retain practically nothing of their ancient culture. Their early 
home was in Louisiana, on the lower Red River. Later they migrated 
toward the Texas border, and still later to Brazos River in Texas. They 
met the whites as early as 1540, and throughout their history have 
maintained a friendly attitude toward the whites. Like the Wichita, 
their early habitations were conical grass lodges, and they were agri- 
culturists, hunting the buffalo only within comparatively recent times. 
The comparison of the Caddo tales with those of other tribes is de- 
ferred until the completion of the present investigation. 

George A. Dorsby. 

Chicago, July 31, /goj. 

5 



TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 



1. THE CREATION AND EARLY MIGRATIONS.* 

lu the beginning the sun, stars, moon, and earth did not exist as 
they are now. Darkness ruled. With the lapse of time came a man, 
the onl}' living being. Soon after his arrival a village sprang into 
existence with many thousands of people, and the people noticed that 
the man seemed to be everywhere. For a time he disappeared, and 
when he came back he had all kinds of seeds. He called all the people 
together and told them that the seeds were for them to eat, and gave 
them to every one. He told them that soon Darkness would go, and 
the people would see, tor Darkness had promised that they should have 
a man by the name of Sun, and that he should be given power by the 
Great- Father- Above ; that whenever his time should come to give them 
to the Sun he should be called or taken away from his mother, from 
our great mother Earth below ; that the direction where the Sun should 
come from should be called "east," and the way of its going down 
should be called "west." He also announced to the people that he 
was the first being created and that he had been given power by the 
same Great-Father- Above, and that he had to carry out his work. 
He then told the people that it was very necessary that they should 
have one man abler and wiser than any other man among them, to be 
their head man ; that they should call him ' ' chief ; ' ' that whatever 
the chief should command should be done by the people ; that they 
should look upon him as a great father. The unknown man told the 
people to return to their homes, hold a council among themselves, and 
select a chief. 

When they had returned and assembled there was in the council a 
man bj^ the name of Coyote, who told the people that the unknown 
powerful man should be called Moon, because he was the first man 
created on earth. The people decided that the Moon should be their 
head man or chief. Finally the Moon called the people together again 
and asked them if they had selected their head man or chief. Coj'ote 
told him that they had decided that he should be their head man, and 
that they had named him " Moon." After Moon came to be chief he 
selected another man, whom he called the Errand-Man, to be his helper, 

*Told by White-Bread. 



8 TRADITIONS OF THK CADDO. 

and to go around among the people to call them together whenever 
he might want them. 

One time the errand-man was sent out to tell the people that the 
chief wanted them to assemble ; that he had very important news to 
tell them, and that they should come as quickly as they could. When 
they had come together the chief told them that they would all have 
to move away from the world that they were living in to another and 
better world ; that he was going to lead them through, for he knew 
the way. The village which the}- were going to leave was called Old- 
Home-in-the-Darkness. Before the people were ready to leave, the 
chief sent the errand-man around among them to tell them that they 
were to be divided into groups, because there were so many of them ; 
that each group must have a leader, and he would give each leader a 
drum. The people began to form in groups and select their leaders. 
After the groups were all formed and each selected their leader, the 
chief called all the leaders together and gave each a drum, and then 
they were ready to start. The chief told all the leaders that they must 
sing and beat their drums as they were moving along ; that none of 
them should ever look back the way they came, lest the people should 
be stopped and have to stay where they were — in darkness. 

The people began moving westward, and thej- came out of the ground 
to another world. While they were yet coming out Coyote happened 
to be out. He began to look around, then told the chief that the world 
was too small for the people ; then he turned around and looked back 
in the direction from which they had come. The people had not all 
come out, and so half of them went back, but the others kept on going 
westward. Finally the chief picked up some dirt and threw it in 
front of him and formed very high mountains. When the people came 
to the mountains they stopped and began to make their first homes and 
villages. Moon went to the top of the mountain and looked about and 
found that the people had not all come the waj- he had come, but had 
scattered and gone in different directions. At the time when the people 
were all together they spoke but one language, the Caddo ; but after 
they had scattered out in groups each group spoke a different language. 
For this reason the many tribes of the present time speak different lan- 
guages. When Moon came to his people, the few he had left, he told 
them the name of the place in the ground from which they had come. 
He told them that the direction to their right-hand side should be called 
north, or cold side, and the direction to their left-hand side should be 
called south, or wann side. While Moon was talking the Sun came up 
out of the east, passed them, and went down in the west. He went too 
fast to do them any good at all. Coyote announced that he was going 



THE CREATION AND EARLY MIGRATIONS. 9 

to Stop the Sun from going so fast. He started eastward early in the 
morning, and when he came to a good place to stop he waited for the 
Sun to come up. When the Sun came up he found Coyote waiting for 
him. Coyote told the Sun that he had come there for the purpose of 
seeing him ; that he wanted to talk with him, for he was in trouble. 
The Sun said that he had not very much time to stop and talk. Coyote 
told the Sun that he would go with him and talk to him as they went 
along. They started on, walking very slowly. Coyote kept telling 
about things that had lately happened. When the Sun was nearing the 
west Coyote told him that he was going to defecate, and asked him to 
wait a while. He started out behind the bushes, and just as soon as he 
was behind them, where the Sun could not see him, he ran away from 
the Sun and the Sun stood there waiting for him to return. After 
a while the Sun grew tired of waiting and started on very slowly, looking 
back every little while and watching for Coyote to catch up with him, 
but Coyote did not appear. The Sun went down very slowly, still 
waiting for Coyote. This is the reason that the Sun lingers and goes 
down very slowly. 

The people's first village in this new world was called Tall-Timber- 
on-Top-of-the-Hill, for the place was in black-jack timber near the top 
of a high hill. There was the beginning of the real people. Moon 
called the people together for the first time in the new world and .said : 
" Soon there will be a child born of a certain woman. He is on the 
way. He shall have more power than any one else, for Great-Father- 
Above has sent him down to his mother, the earth, to be among the 
people and teach them right and wrong. When the child comes he 
shall name himself after the former chief, Medicine-Screech-Owl, and 
he shall have with him bow and arrows. ' ' 

When the child came he had with him the bow and arrows. When 
his birthday came his father and mother were talking about what name 
should be given him ; but before his mother or father could give him a 
name the j'oung child spoke and named himself, saying, " My name 
shall be Medicine-Screech-Owl." He said to the people : " The bow 
and arrows are for 'the men only, to be used in killing game. The time 
is coming when we .shall have to use these things, especially the bow 
and arrows." Later on the people began to learn that this child was 
going to be a powerful man. He went around among the people and 
taught them how to make bows and arrows. In those times the animals 
talked to human beings and the human beings could talk to the animals, 
and they understood one another. Time passed and some of the human 
beings began to turn into animals. Medicine-Screech-Owl knew that 
some of these people were not real human beings. He knew that if 



lO TRADITION'S OK THE CADDO. 

some of the people should turn into animals it would be verj' bad, as 
the people would be destroyed by them, and as he knew just what animals 
were the most ferocious he went and made them a visit in behalf of the 
people. Some of the animals were opposed to Mediciue-Screech-Owl 
and hated him, and when he came to certain ones they would try to kill 
him, and that is how he came to kill some of them. 

In tho.se times the people had little to eat. There were two people, 
a man and a woman, known to the people as the Buzzards, who lived 
at the north end of the village, and the people noticed that they al- 
ways had plenty of meat and other things to eat, and they wondered 
how they got it. Time passed until finally Coj-ote came among the 
people aud told them that he was going over to visit the two people 
and find out where and how they got so much meat and so many other 
things to eat. In those times the animals that were living with the 
people had some magic powers, and Coyote had power. He said : 
" In order to find out where and how the Buzzard people get their 
food, I must scheme." After studying he resolved that he would imi- 
tate a dog, aud so before he came to the Buzzard home he turned him- 
self into a very small and fine-looking dog. He stayed away from the 
Buzzards and watched his opportunity to place himself where they 
would find him. One time the Buzzards had gone out some distance 
from their home for some purpose and were returning, when they 
found the little dog by the trail. The woman liked the dog, but the 
man said that it was not a real dog, but some one else. The woman 
did not believe him. The man allowed her to take the dog home with 
them. When thej' reached home he told her that they must find out 
whether this was a real dog or not. He told her to pinch the dog's 
ear and see if it would howl like a real dog. The woman pinched the 
dog's ear and it howled like a dog. Still the man did not believe that 
it was a dog. He told the woman to go and get some meat and give it 
to the dog, saying that if a dog it would take its time, but if it were 
not a dog it would eat fast ; that then he would know whether or not 
to believe it was a dog. The woman gave some meat to the dog. 
Coyote took his time in eating it, and so Buzzard believed what the 
woman had said, and they kept the dog. Coyote stayed with them 
until their meat gave out, then he watched them very closely. Finally 
the Buzzards began to talk about going after more meat. Coyote lis- 
tened. At length they started out and left their dog at home. They 
thought the dog would stay at home until they returned. But Coyote 
had a scheme, so he followed at .some distance, .so that they could not 
see him, and he watched them very closely. When they came to the 
place where they usually found their meat. Coyote found out all about 



THE CREATION AND EARLY MIGRATIONS. II 

how and where they got it, then ran back to their home and lay down, 
so that when the Buzzards returned to their home they found their 
little dog lying there fast asleep. Coyote stayed with them two days 
longer, and the third day he made up his mind that he must carry out 
his work. Early one morning he started out straight to the place 
where he had seen the Buzzards at work. It was a large cave or hole 
in the ground. The door of the place was a large rock. When he 
came to the place he opened it and out came thousands and thousands 
of buffalo. They came out so fast that before long they had spread 
over the western prairies before the Buzzards knew it. It was quite a 
time before Buzzard discovered what had happened. First he heard a 
strange noise like thunder. He went and looked for the little dog, but 
in vain, for the dog had already gone. He heard Coyote howling in 
the distance. Buzzard went out and found that nearly all the buffalo 
had escaped. 

When Coyote went to his home he told the people to hurry and make 
some bows and arrows, for the buffalo were coming. He told them 
just what had happened and how he had schemed. 

Buzzard was verj' angry at his wife and scolded her. He told her 
that she ought to know by this time that they were not the only ones 
that had powers, and that henceforth the only way that they could 
make a living was to go around and look for dead meat. In order to 
do this they turned into birds and became real buzzards. They flew 
around and looked for dead things to eat. 

From that time on the people began to make bows and arrows, which 
were given to mankind for their use in killing game. Time passed on 
and the people noticed that their chief. Moon, paid no attention to 
them and seemed to have nothing to say. He did not call them together 
any more, but stayed at his home all the time. The people began to 
think there must be something wrong, and so there was, for Moon 
himself was doing very wrong things. He knew that he was setting 
his people a bad example, and he believed the people had already found 
out something about him. Medicine-Screech-Owl knew all about this, 
for he had more powers than Moon himself. Moon was living with 
his family near the center of the village ; he was the chief, unmarried, 
and lived with his father and mother and one very young sister. Here 
was the beginning of his mistakes. Unknown to his father and mother, 
for a long time he kept going by night to see his own sister, not letting 
her know that he was her own brother. He abused her and treated 
her very meanly sometimes. For a long time she did not know who 
he could be, for she had no one to tell her. It finally occurred to her 
that it might be her brother. One night she made up her mind to find 



12 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

out who he was. Slie put some black paint on her fingers, and that 
night when the man came she passed her painted fingers across his fore- 
head and made black marks, which the man knew nothing about until 
the next morning. In the morning, when he came in, she saw the 
marks on his forehead, and she knew that he was the man who had 
abused her. When he learned that the people were finding out about 
him he became so ashamed of himself that he wished to leave his people. 
He remembered that when he came into the world the Great-F'ather- 
Above had promised him that some day he should call him away from 
his people ; that he should Ije placed where the people could see him 
at night, and that he should be with the people all the time. He knew 
that the time was now approaching when he should be called away 
from his people, and soon he was called away from them. Great- 
Father-Above took him away and placed him far above, where the 
people could see him and the shame-marks on his forehead. 

Medicine-Screech-Owl grew to be a man, and after Moon was gone 
the people gathered again to select another chief, and they selected 
the powerful Medicine-Screech-Owl. His first announcement to the 
people was that they must move on farther west. The people began 
moving westward, climbing the mountains. When they had got on top 
of them they saw a large lake, and they wondered where the water 
came from. Medicine-Screech-Owl called the people's attention to it, 
and they all came and gathered along the banks of the lake. He then 
spoke to the people, saying : " These waters which are before you are 
the tears of your great chief, Moon, for before he was taken up into 
the heavens he came up to this mountain and shed tears for the wrongs 
he had done to his people. So we shall call this mountain Moon's- 
Tears-on-the-Mountain." The people kept on moving westward until 
they found a place where they wanted to locate their second village. 
They commenced making bows and arrows, which they used in killing 
game. They began to go out a long distance from their village to hunt 
buffalo and other animals. There were several kinds of dangerous 
animals in the country, and at one place near by the people dared not 
go, because there in the water was the most ferocious animal that ever 
lived. Medicine-Screech-Owl told the people that he had some power 
and that he was going to try to kill the animal. One day when he 
was alone he decided to go and destroy the animal. He went out, and 
when he came near the place where the animal was he stopped for a 
short time at the edge of the timber, for he could not locate the animal 
exactly. The name of the animal was Cannibal. The lake was large 
and all around w-ere swamps and thickets. By the aid of his power 
and with a certain motion, Medicine-Screech-Owl made a narrow place 



THE CREATION AND EARLY MIGRATIONS. 1 3 

like a road through the thicket, through which he could see the ani- 
mal. He had brought with him from his village his bow, but no 
arrows, and .some corn, which he was to use in killing the animal. 
When he made the opening in the thicket he took out two tall canes 
from the ground, with the roots and the dirt that was on them, to be 
used as arrows. The corn that he had with him he threw in the air, 
and it became blackbirds, which flew straight over the head of the ani- 
mal. When the animal arose to draw the blackbirds down to him 
Medicine-Screech-Owl shot it with the cane arrows, first from the right 
side through the heart and out the left, then from the left side through 
the heart and out to the right. The animal fell near the edge of the 
water and died. Medicine-Screech-Owl went over to see the place 
where the animal was. He saw all kinds of bones lying around the 
place. Not long after this the lake dried up. When the people learned 
what had happened and what their chief had done, they were no longer 
afraid of the place. 

Now Coyote became a very bad man. The people noticed that 
he had done to them several things that he had no right to do. He 
would go from place to place, sometimes very early in the morning and 
sometimes ver5' late in the evening. He made all kinds of trouble 
among the people. Whenever he did anything that was wrong he 
would blame some one else, and in some way he would escape the 
consequences. Finally Medicine-Screech-Owl sent for Coyote and 
told him that he must leave the people and go on his way ; but Coyote, 
being a great schemer, told the chief that he was going to stop doing 
mean tricks among his people, and that he was not yet ready to leave. 
Medicine-Screech-Owl allowed him to stay with the people until he 
should be captured or killed at any time. 

2. THE ORIGIN OF DAY AND NIGHT.* 

In the beginning the people all lived in darkness. After a time they 
became dissatisfied and wanted light. They called a council to discuss 
how they could get light. Coyote was the first to speak, and he said : 
' ' We have had enough darkness ; we must now have light. It is right 
that we should have both and not all darkness. ' ' There was a man at 
that time who was a prophet, and Coyote said that he appointed the 
prophet to investigate and see how the people might obtain light. The 
prophet thought over the question and then reported : 

"There are j'ellow, black, spotted, half-spotted, and white deer upon 
the earth. These deer are here for some purpose. If you kill the yellow 

* Told by Wing. 



14 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

deer, everj'thing shall be j'ellow all the time. If you kill the white 
deer, everjthing .shall be white all the time. If j-ou kill the spotted 
one, everything shall be spotted and very bad. If you kill the black 
one, everything shall be black as it is now. But if you kill both the 
black and the white deer, then we shall have day and night. During 
the day everything will be white, and we can go about and hunt and 
visit, and during the night we can return to our homes and rest." 

The people accepted the prophet's words and started out and hunted 
until they killed the black and white deer, and from that time we have 
had day and night. 

3. THE ORIGIN OF ANhMALS. 

The people and animals all lived together and were the same in the 
beginning of the world. After a time thej' became too numerous and 
there was not food enough for all. A council was held and the chiefs 
determined that some should become animals and live apart from the 
people and be hunted by them for food. vSome of the people, who lived 
where the big fire had burned off the grass, were rolled about in the 
black ashes until they became black. Again thej- were rolled and then 
they took on the form of bears. Long pieces of white stone were put 
upon their feet for claws and in their mouth for teeth. They were 
given ten lives. When killed the first time, the second life was to 
arise from the blood that was .spilled upon the ground, and .so the third 
life was to ari.se from the blood that was spilled when the bear was 
killed for the second time, and .so on through the other lives up to the 
tenth. During the first life the bear was not to be fierce, but as often 
as he was killed and passed to another life he was to become fiercer and 
fiercer, until, when he came to the tenth life, he would fight, and even 
eat, human beings. 

Some other people who lived where the long grass grew were rolled 
upon the earth, and when they arose they had the form of buffalo, and 
the gra.ss had stuck to them and hung all like a beard under their 
necks. They, too, were given ten lives and then put upon the prairie 
to live, where man could hunt them. The deer were then made in the 
same way, and after them all the other animals were made. 

4. COYOTE REGULATES LIFE AFTER DEATH.* 

The people had many councils from time to time. The errand man 
went all round to call the people to these councils. At one council 
Coyote arose and .said : " First, we must change our rule about death, 
because all are not being treated alike. Now when some die they come 

* Told by White- Bread. 



COYOTE REGULATES LIFE AFTER DEATH. I5 

back to their people, and then others die and never see their people 
again. I propose to make another rule, so that we may all be treated 
alike after death. This is the rule that I wish to propose : When any 
one dies let him be dead forever, and let no living person ever see him 
again. Our GreatFather-Above made a place there where everj- one 
of us may go after death. Now when any one dies he shall go from 
the living forever, but we shall still keep up the fire for six days. ' ' All 
the people were well plea.sed with Coyote's rule, and so from that time 
on, even to the present day, the same rule is kept, and when anjbody 
dies he is gone forever, never to return again. The people are taken 
to the sky when they die and become the stars that we see at night. 

Morning Star, who freed the earth from bad animals, had three 
brothers, and he was the oldest one and the leader of all the tribe. In 
the beginning he had been the errand man, and during war expeditions 
he had to get up early in the morning, hours before dawn, to go around 
the camps and wake the people, so that the enemy would not find them. 
That is the reason he gets up so early now. In the evening one of his 
brothers would go back a long distance to see if the enemj' were coming 
on their trail, and so the man was named Evening Star. The other 
two brothers were named North Star and South Star, and these four 
brothers always had something to do. North Star alwa3's had to camp 
in the North and watch for the enemy lest they should approach from 
that direction ; South Star had to camp in the Soitth and watch lest 
the enemy should approach from that direction. Their father's name 
was Great Star, and he was the chief of the people. Now the people 
think that when anj' one dies he goes up to the sky, where he turns 
around and looks back and becomes one of the stars, and so thej' believe 
every one when he dies goes up to the sky. 

5. COYOTE AND THE ORIGIN OF DEATH. 

In the beginning of this world there was no such thing as death. 
E%'ery one continued to live until there were so many people that there 
was not room for any more on the earth. The chiefs held a council 
to determine what to do. One man arose and said that he thought it 
would be a good plan to have the people die and be gone for a little 
while, and then to return. As soon as he sat down Coyote jumped up 
and said that he thought that people ought to die forever, for this little 
world was not large enough to hold all of the people, and if the people 
who died came back to life there would not be food enough for all. 
All of the other men objected, saying that they did not want their 
friends and relatives to die and be gone forever, for then people would 
grieve and worry and there would not be any happiness in the world. 



l6 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

All except Coyote decided to have the people die and be gone for a 
little while, and then to come back to life. 

The medicine-men built a large grass house facing the east, and 
when they had completed it they called all of the men of the tribe to- 
gether and told them that they had decided to have the people who 
died come to the medicine-hou.se and there be restored to life. The 
chief medicine-man said that he would put a large white and black 
eagle feather on top of the gra.ss house, and that when the feather be- 
came bloody and fell over, the people would know that some one had 
died. Then all of the raedicine-raen were to come to the grass house 
and sing. They would .sing a .song that would call the spirit of the 
dead to the grass hou.se, and when the spirit came they would cau.se it 
to assume the form that it had while living, and then they would re- 
store it to life again. All of the people were glad when the medicine- 
men announced these rules about death, for they were anxious for the 
dead to be restored to life and come again to live with them. 

After a time they saw the eagle feather turn bloody and fall, and .so 
they knew that some one had died. The medicine-men assembled in 
the grass house and sang, as they had promised that they would, for 
the spirit of the dead to come to them. In about ten days a whirl- 
wind blew from the west, circled about the grass house, and finally en- 
tered through the entrance in the east. From the whirlwind appeared 
a handsome young man who had been murdered by another tribe. 
All of the people saw him and rejoiced except Coyote, who was dis- 
pleased because his rules about dead were not carried out. In a short 
time the feather became bloody and fell again. Coyote saw it and at 
once went to the gra.ss hou.se. He took his seat near the door, and 
there sat with the singers for manj^ days, and when at last he heard 
the whirlwind coming he .slipf)ed near the door, and as the whirlwind 
circled about the house and was about to enter, he closed the door. 
The .spirit in the whirlwind, finding the door closed, whirled on by. 
Death forever was then introduced, and people from that time on 
grieved about the dead and were unhappy. Now whenever anj* one 
meets a whirlwind or hears the wind whistle he says: " There is .some 
one wandering about." Ever .since Coyote closed the door the spirits 
of the dead have wandered over the earth, trying to find .some place to 
go, until at last they find the road to spirit land. 

Coyote jumped up and ran away and never came back, for when he 
saw what he had done he was afraid . Ever after that he ran from one 
place to another, always looking back over first one shoulder and then 
over the other, to see if any one was pursuing him, and ever .since then 
he has been starving, for no one will give him anything to eat. 



THE SECOND MAN WHO CAME OUT OF THE EARTH. 17 

6. THE SECOND MAN WHO CAME OUT OF THE EARTH.* 

In the beginning, when the people first came out of the earth into the 
world, Moon was the first man to enter the world. The second man 
was Tonin, and he was even greater than Moon and more powerful. 
He was only about four feet high and rode a bay horse that was no 
bigger than a dog. He had the power to turn darkness into light, and 
to wish for anything and have his wi.sh fulfilled at once. If he wished 
to go a long distance, no .sooner did he wish than he was there, no 
matter how far, and if he wished to kill any kind of game, all he had 
to do was to point to it with his forefinger and it lay dead before him. 
From time to time he disappeared and the people did not know where 
he went, until one time they saw him going as though on wings up 
into the blue sky. He was able to tell what would happen in the future, 
and so one time he sent the errand man to go out and call all the people 
to come to the meeting place, for he had something that he wanted to 
saj' to them. When the people were all assembled, he came and talked 
to them for half a day. He talked to them about this world in which 
the}' were living, and then he told them that in six days he was going 
away, and that he would be gone six winters and seven summers. He 
told them that he did not know exactly where he would go, but that 
he wanted them all to come in six days and see him start on his journey. 
The people went home and on the sixth day came again, and after they 
were there a little while Tonin came. He began to sing a song, the 
song of death, and then he was gradually lifted from the earth and taken 
into the sky. All the people wept for fear he would not come back, 
but they remembered his promise to return, and so took courage. 

Time passed and the people remembered Tonin and his words for 
about three summers and three winters ; then they began to forget 
about him and his words. Time passed on and it was time for him to 
return ; then the world began to change. The stars became brighter 
and larger. Tonin had several brothers, and one of these brothers had 
remembered what he promised the people, so he knew that it was time 
for him to return. When the day came this brother gave the sign to 
his people that Tonin was about to return by beating six times on the 
drum ; but some of the people had so completely forgotten Tonin that 
they did not even know what the sign meant. Toward evening a 
large star came up and shone very bright in the east, and all the people 
came and gathered together to watch it. When Tonin came back to 
earth he was pleased to see the people all there to meet him, and he 



*ToW by White-Bread. 



l8 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

told them about the future. He told them that strange people were 
coming into the land, and that they would frighten away the buffalo, 
the deer, and the bear. He stayed on earth .sometime, then called the 
people together and told them that he was going as he had gone before, 
but that this time he was not to return. Then he went up into the sky. 

7. SNAKE- WOMAN DISTRIBUTES SEEDS. 

The Great Father gave the seeds of all growing things to Snake- 
Woman. He taught her how to plant the seeds and how to care for 
the green things that grew from them until they were ripe, and then 
how to prepare them for food. One time, when Snake- Woman had 
more seeds than she could possibly care for, she decided to give some 
to the people. She called her two sons and asked them to help her 
carry the .seeds. Each put a big bag full of seeds on his back, and 
then they traveled all over the world, giving six seeds of each kind of 
plant to everj' person. As Snake- Woman gave each person the seeds 
she told him that he must plant them, and must care for the plants 
that grew from them, but must allow no one, especially children, to 
touch them or even point to them as they grew. She .said that until 
the seeds were ripe they belonged to her, and if any one gathered them 
too soon she would send a poisonous snake to bite him. Parents always 
tell their children what Snake- Woman said, and .so tliej' are afraid to 
touch or go near any growing plants for fear a snake will come and 
bite them. 

8. THE FLOOD.* 

One time a long, hot, dry season came and all the waters of the earth 
dried up. The people wandered from place to place, trying to find 
water, and after many days they became crazed and did many foolish 
things. They went to the dried-up river beds and there found many 
dead fish and turtles and animals that dwelt in the water, and the people 
cut them to pieces and threw them about, for they thought that these 
animals and fish were in some way responsible for the waters disap- 
pearing. While they were acting foolishly thej- looked up and saw a 
man in the sky coming toward them from the west. A wind blew, 
and the man approached and lighted on the ground before them. In 
his hand he carried a small green leaf. He told the people that they 
had not acted wisely and had abused him, and that he was angry with 
them. He motioned the leaf in four directions and drops of water fell 
from it. Soon the waters grew in volume and arose all over the world, 
even to the tree-tops, and the highest mountains except one. To this 



* Toltl by Wing. 



THE FLOOD. 19 

high mountain the man led a few of the people whom he chose, and 
they stayed on the mountain for four days, while the water rose higher 
and higher. As tlie waters rose the man caused the mountain to rise 
with them. He could do this because he had greater power than the 
spirit of Cold or Heat. After a time the waters began to go down, 
and green things appeared upon the earth again. Then he led the 
people down from the mountain. They found that many people who 
had been left in the water during the flood had not drowned, but had 
turned into alligators and other water animals. 

9. THE EFFEMINATE MAN WHO INTRODUCED STRIFE. 

One time there lived among the people a man who always did the 
women's work and dressed like the women and weut with them, and 
never went with the men. The men made fun of him, but he did not 
care, and continued to work and play only with the women. A war 
broke out with some other tribe, and all of the men weut to fight but 
this man, who stayed behind with the women. After the war party 
had gone, an old man, who was too old to go with them, came to him 
and told him that if he would not go to fight he was going to kill him, 
for it was a disgrace to have such a man in the tribe. The man refused 
to go, saying that the Great Father did not send him to earth to fight 
and did not want him to. The old man paid no attention to his excuse, 
and told him if he did not go to fight he would have the warriors kill 
him when they returned from battle with the enemy. The man said 
that they could not kill him, that he would always come to life, and 
would bewitch people and cause them to fight and kill one another. 
The old man did not believe him, and when the war party came home 
he told the men that they would have to kill the man because he was 
a coward, and they could not let a coward live in the tribe. They beat 
him until they thought he was dead, and were just ready to bury him 
when he jumped up alive. Again they beat him until he fell ; then 
they cut off his head. He jumped up headless and ran about, fright- 
ening all of the people. They were just about to give up killing him 
when some one noticed a small purple spot on the little finger of his 
left hand. They cut that out ; then he lay down and died. Soon after 
many people began to fight and quarrel, and some even killed their own 
brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. The other people tried 
to stop the fighting, but could not, because the people were bewitched 
and could not help themselves. Then the old man remembered what 
the coward had said, and he told the people, and they were all sorry 
that they had killed him. 



TRAniTIONS OF THK CADDO. 



10. THE ORIGIN OF THE MEDICINE-MEN.* 

In days of old people knew the animals and were on friendlj- terms 
with them. All of the animals possessed wonderful powers and they 
sometimes appeared to people in dreams or visions and gave them their 
power. Often when men were out hunting and were left alone in the 
forest or on the plains at night, the animals came to them and .spoke to 
them in dreams and revealed their .secrets to them. The man who had 
had a dream of this kind woke up and went home. There he remained 
.several days in .silence, refusing to talk to any one, thinking only of the 
things that had been revealed to him. After a time he called .some of 
his friends and the old men of the tribe to his lodge and told them of 
his powers and asked them if they would be taught his secrets. If 
they agreed the man taught them his .songs and dances. After he had 
taught them all the necessary things they declared themselves ready to 
give a Medicine- Men's dance, and gave themselves the title of medicine- 
men. Then if any one was sick in the village and sought the aid of 
the medicine-men they prepared to hold the dance in behalf of that 
person, that they might try their powers of healing on him. They 
built a large gra.ss lodge, and the dance was held in this lodge for six 
days and nights. 

The first medicine-men ever to receive power and give the dance 
were two young brothers. The.se boj's were brave hunters, and one 
time when they were out on the hunt night overtook them far from 
any habitation. They made a camp in the lonelj- woods and laid down 
to sleep, for the\' were very wears'. In their sleep they both had a 
dream and in their dreams each met the other, and they dreamed thit 
they were walking together toward the ea.st. On their way they .saw 
a man coming toward them, and he was walking rapidly toward the 
west. The}' met him and he stopped and talked with them in their 
language. After they had talked long, the man revealed a bag that 
he carried and said, " Choose from this any kind of medicine that 3'ou 
want. If you wish to live long and be hard to kill, take this," and he 
handed them certain medicine. When the boys had accepted it he 
said, " Now that you have the same power that I have, I will .show 
you how to use it." He spent a long time teaching them how to use 
the medicine and then he continued his journey toward the west. At 
break of day both boys woke up, and each remembered his dream, but 
said nothing to the other or to any one, but thought long on what the 
man had taught him. After manj' months each began to try his 
powers. 

« Told b>- Wing. 



THE ORIGIN OF THE MEDICINE-MEN. 21 

After two winters war broke out with the Chickasaw people, and 
many were killed and yet many more were taken prisoners. The 
victorious Chickasaws marched home with their prisoners and booty, 
and every night when they made camp they held war dances and 
danced about their prisoners, who, bound, were placed in the center 
of the large ring of dancers. One night, after the dancing was over 
and the prisoners lay exhausted and cold, one of them, a young man, 
escaped. It was nearly morning and he had not gone far when the 
sun came up, and he heard the Chickasaws coming after him. He did 
not know what to do and was about to give up when he saw a hollow 
log. He crawled into it and the Chickasaws came to the log and went 
on by. He stayed in the log all da)^ and in the evening, after he had 
heard the Chickasaws return, he crawled out and went on toward his 
home. After two days he reached his village and there told his story. 
There were manj^ men in the village who had been away when the 
Chickasaws made their attack, and among them were the two brothers 
who had received power in their dreams. By that time the Chickasaws 
were about five days on their waj', but the men started to pursue them. 
The elder brother, whose name was Strong- Wind, was chosen to take 
the lead. After several days' marching they overtook the enemy. 
They came upon their camp at night, and they could hear the beat of 
the drums and the songs of victory before they found the camp. The 
night was very dark, and so the men had to wait until dawn before 
they could attack the camp. At the first light thej' rushed into the 
camp and killed manj* Chickasaws and rescued their prisoners. Strong- 
Wind and his brother were equal to ten men apiece, and so wonderful 
were their powers that they alone rushed into the midst of the enemy 
and killed many and took many women as prisoners. The Chickasaws 
were powerless before them, and even their own people stopped fighting 
to stare in wonder at the brave deeds of the two young men. The few 
Chickasaws who were left fled in terror and the party returned home 
rejoicing. 

After many years, during which time the brothers practiced their 
powers in times of war, they died and the tribe was left without any 
medicine-men. Finally there was a very young man, who became a 
medicine-man through powers given him by the Black-Mountain-Bear. 
One time while he was out hunting he wandered far in quest of game, 
and before he realized it the sun was down and it was growing dark. 
He thought of his home and knew that he could not reach it before 
night. He made a shelter, lay down to sleep, and dreamed that he 
was walking on a narrow trail leading eastward. He looked ahead 
and saw a man sitting by the wayside with his head down. As he 



22 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

approached, the man raised his head, looked at him, and said- "'My 
boy, I want to give you some medicine, for I want you to have powers 
like mine." The old man took out many roots and told the boy to 
choose six of them. He took six of the roots ; then the old man told 
him that he would have to go before six men, each of whom would 
explain the power of one medicine and how to use it. The boy did not 
want to go to so many men for fear he would not have time, and so he 
gave back four of the roots. Then he thanked the old man and started 
on his way. Soon he saw another old man sitting by the trail, and as 
he approached, the man arose, and when he came up to him he began 
to talk to the boy and explained the use of his medicine. While he 
was yet on the way, going toward the third man, he awoke. He 
returned to his mother's lodge, but kept silent, and spoke to no one for 
many days, thinking always about his dream and the things that had 
been taught him. He wandered about alone, looking always for the 
medicine roots he had seen in his dream. After many mouths he found 
the plant. 

Soon after there was a man in another village who was about to die, 
and when the 3'ouug man heard of the sick man he determined to go 
and see him and try his powers. He called the medicine-men together 
and taught them the medicine dance-song that had been taught him in 
the dream ; then they all went to the lodge where the sick man was. 
All the people wondered why the young man should call the men to 
sing medicine dance-sougs for him, for they never thought of him as 
having power. He was with the sick man a long time before he could 
find out what was the matter with him. First, the dancers danced very 
slowly, and graduallj' increased the movement, as was their custom. 
So long was the j'Oung man in finding out what was the matter with 
the sick man, that the dancers were dancing as fast as they possibly 
could before he decided. Thus they danced for six days and nights, 
and many of the dancers dropped to the ground exhausted. Finally 
the young man began to talk in a tongue no one understood, and he 
began to dance .slowly. Then the others knew that he had discovered 
what ailed the man. He fell to the ground and began to crawl like a 
mad bear. He crawled up to the sick man and, placing his mouth on 
the place where the greatest pain was, drew the pain out by blowing 
his breath on the place, and the pain was gone. The people knew 
then that the boy was in truth a medicine-man, and by his actions they 
knew that the Black-Mountain- Bear had gfiven him power. It was the 
Bear who had appeared to the young man as an old man in his dream. 
F"rom that time he was called Black-Mountain-Bear-Medicine-Man. 
Then the chief of the medicine- men's societv announced that all the 



THE ORIGIN OF THE MEDICINE-MEN. 23 

mediciue-meu were going to hold a dance, and thej' wanted the young 
man to be present and show his powers, if he had any. The dance was 
held and every one attended. Black- Mountain-Bear-Medicine-Man .sat 
and watched the dancers until the last, the sixth night of the dance : 
then he arose and joined in the dance. He danced faster and faster, 
and after a time went over and picked up a gun. He took the bullet 
out, then he showed it and the powder to all the people. Then he put 
them in the gun again and gave it to his helper. He continued danc- 
ing, and after he had danced a long time and very fast he fell to the 
ground. After a while he arose on his knees and spread out his arms. 
His helper shot him through the breast and he fell over in a faint. 
Soon he arose and began dancing again, and as he danced he showed 
the bullet to the people and also bared his breast, and they could see no 
marks. He had caught the bullet in his hands. After that he became 
a member of the medicine-men's society. 

After a time another young man appeared with wonderful power, 
also given him by the Mountain-Bear. He appeared at the medicine- 
men's lodge one night, where they were having a dance, and he joined 
in and did man}- wonderful things. He had a bear's skin that he 
could cause to turn into a young bear, which would follow him about, and 
then he would turn the animal back into a piece of skin. 

There are two kinds of medicine-men. One kind has power to doctor 
and heal the sick ; another has the power to prevent any one from being 
hurt or harmed, and can charm away all danger. The latter are supposed 
to be more powerful than the first kind of medicine-men, for they can 
perform their magic without medicine and have power to bewitch people 
who are afar off, and thus make them lose their minds and not know 
what they are doing. Thej- have a song of death, and when they sing 
the song before a dying person they frighten away death and the person 
lives. There are few people who ever recei\'e this power, which is 
generally given by the sun, moon, stars, earth, or storm, but .some verj- 
wild and ferocious animals can also give the power to people. 

II. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A TURTLE. 

A girl lived alone with her two brothers. They were famous hunters 
and were away all day hunting. While they were gone the girl often 
played down by the water, and there she came to know Turtle. One 
day he came up to her and asked her if she would have him for her 
husband. She said that she would, and after that she met him when- 
ever she went to the lake. Often her brothers wanted to carry the water 
for her, but she would never let them, but would always go herself and 
stay a long time with Turtle. One time her brothers went away to be 



24 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

gone many days. She told Turtle that they were gone and that she 
was going to take him to her house and keep him there. He was glad, 
for then he could be with her all of the time. She went home and built 
a high bed, and when she had finished it she carried Turtle home and 
put him in the bed. She asked him what he liked best to eat, and lie 
said that he liked potatoes better than anything else. Every day she 
went out to hunt potatoes and prepared a big bowl full and put it up 
in the bed for him to eat. After several days her brothers came home, 
and so she thought she would take Turtle back to the river, but he 
begged so hard to stay that .she yielded to him, though she knew that 
she took a risk. She told Turtle that he must always stay up in the 
bed where her brothers could not .see him and mu.st not move when they 
were about, for they would hear him and look for him and would surely 
kill him if they found him. The boys noticed the high bed when they 
returned, but their sister told them that she had made it because she 
felt .safer in it while they were gone. Then they thought nothing more 
about it until they noticed that their .sister regularly filled a large bowl 
with potatoes and put it in the bed and then took it out empty. They 
began to suspect something, but said nothing. One day they said that 
they were going to hunt. The girl watched them until they were out 
of sight ; then she took her digging stick and started after more potatoes 
for Turtle. The boys only pretended to go hunting and soon came 
back. They slipped up to the house and peeped in. When they found 
that their .sister was gone they went in and climbed up to the bed to see 
what was there. They found Turtle and killed him, then ran away. 
When the girl came home and found her husband dead, she knew at 
once that her brothers had killed him and she started after them. 

The boys ran until they came to a river. There thej' met many 
white ducks playing on the water. In those days all birds were white. 
The boys offered to paint the ducks all different colors if they would 
carry them and their little bob-tailed dog that was with them acro.ss 
the river and not tell any one that they had seen them or helped them 
across. The ducks agreed, and so the boys painted their feathers. 
Then the ducks took them on their backs and flew across the stream 
with them. Soon the girl came along and asked the ducks if they 
had seen anything of two young men and a white bob-tailed dog. 
They said that they had not .seen them, and the girl was about to turn 
back when one white duck, whom the boys had forgotten to paint, 
flew up and told her that her brothers and their dog had ju.st passed, 
and that the other ducks had lied to her, because the boys had painted 
their feathers if they would not tell her the truth. The white duck 
carried the girl across the river and she began again to pursue her 



THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A TURTLE. 25 

brothers. They saw her coming and were afraid that she would 
overtake them, when they met three white doves. They asked the 
doves to take them and their dog on their backs and carry them to the 
sky. The doves agreed and flew to the sky with them and left them 
there. As the doves were flying down they flew through so much 
smoke that their white feathers became gray. The girl met the doves 
and asked them where her brothers and the little bob-tailed dog were. 
The doves pointed to three bright stars in the southern part of the 
skj'. The girl looked, and when she saw that her brothers and their 
dog had become stars she fell dead. 

12. THE MAN AND THE DOG WHO BECAME STARS. 

A young man had a Dog which he always took with him whenever 
he went to hunt. When he was at home he did not pay much atten- 
tion to the Dog, and the Dog acted like any other dog, but when they 
were off alone the Dog would talk to his master just as if he were a 
man. He had the power of a prophet and could always tell what was 
going to happen. One time, while they were out hunting, the Dog came 
running back to his master and told him that they were about to come 
to a very dangerous place. The young man asked where the place 
was, and the Dog said that he did not know just where it was, but that 
he knev,' it was not far away. In another in.stant the Dog scented a 
deer and started out on its trail, and the man followed. Soon they 
came upon the deer. The man shot it, but only wounded it, and it 
continued to run until it reached the lake, and then jumped into the 
water. The Dog jumped in after it and soon caught it, because he 
could swim faster than the wounded deer. He held it while the young 
man threw off his clothes and swam to his assistance. Soon they killed 
the deer, and then the man put it on his shoulders and started to swim 
to the shore. All at once the Dog cried out, " Look out ! " There 
before them and all around them were all kinds of poisonous and dan- 
gerous water animals. The man thought that they would surely be 
killed, for the animals were so numerous that they could not possibly 
swim past them. He began to pray to the spirits to help him, and as 
he pra3ed the water leaped up and threw them on the shore. The 
young man felt so grateful to the spirits who had saved his and his 
Dog's lives that he cut some of the flesh from the deer and threw it 
into the water as a sacrifice. Then he and the Dog decided that they 
would not stay longer in this dangerous world, and so they went to the 
sky to live. There they can be seen as two bright stars in the south. 
The one to the east is the young man, and the one to the west is the Dog. 



26 TRADITIONS OF THH CADDO. 

13. EVENING-STAR AND ORPHAN-STAR. 

A poor orphan boy lived with a large family of people who were not 
kind to him and mistreated him. He could not go to play or hunt 
with the other boys, but had to do all of the hard work. Whenever 
the camp broke up the family always tried to steal away and leave the 
boy behind, but sooner or later he found their new camp and went to 
them because he had no other place to go. One time .several families 
went in boats to an island in a large lake to hunt eggs, and the orphan 
boy went with them. After they had filled their boats with eggs they 
secretly made ready to go back to the mainland. In the night, while 
the orphan boy was asleep, they stole away in their boats, leaving him 
to starve on the lonely island. 

The boy wandered about the island, eating only the scraps that he 
could find around the dead camp fires, until he was almost starved. 
As he did not have a bow and arrows, he could not hunt, but he sat by 
the water's edge and tried to catch fish as they swam past him. One 
day as he sat on the lonely shore he saw a large animal with horns 
coming to him through the water. He sat very still and watched the 
animal, for he was too frightened to run awa}-. The monster came 
straight to him, then raised his head out of the water and said : " Boy, 
I have come to save you. I saw the people desert you, and I have taken 
pity upon you and come to rescue you. Get upon my back and hold 
to my horns and I will carry you to the mainland." The boy was no 
longer afraid, but climbed upon the animal's back. " Keep your eyes 
on the blue sky, and if you see a star tell me at once," the animal said 
to him. They had not gone far when the boy cried, " There in the 
west is a big star." The monster looked up and saw the star, then 
turned around at once and swam back to the island as fast as he could. 
The next day he came and took the boy again, telling him, as before, to 
call out the moment that he .saw a star appear in the sky. They had 
gone a little farther than they had the day before when the boj' cried out, 
" There in the west is a star." The animal turned around and went 
to the shore. The next day and the next four days he started with 
the boy, and each time he succeeded in getting a little farther before 
the boy .saw the star. The sixth time they were within a few feet of the 
opposite shore when the boy saw the star. He wanted to reach the shore 
so badly that he thought he would keep still and not tell the monster 
that he saw the star, for he knew that he would take him back to the 
island at once if he did. He said nothing, and so the mon.ster swam 
on until thej' were almost in shallow water, when the boy saw a great 
black cloud roll in front of the star. He became frightened and jumped 



EVENING-STAR AND ORPHAN-STAR. 27 

off of the animal's back and swam to the shore. Just as he jumped 
something struck the animal with an awful crash and he rolled over 
dead. When the boy came upon the shore a handsome young man 
came up to him and said : ' ' You have done me a great favor. For a 
long time I have tried to kill this monster, because he makes the water 
of the lake dangerous, but until now I could never get the chance. 
In return for what you have done, I will take you with me to the sky, 
if you care to go." The boy said that he wanted to go, as he was alone 
and friendless upon the earth. The man, who was Evening-Star, took 
him with him to the sky, and there he may be seen as Orphan-Star 
who stands near Evening-Star. 

14. THE GIRL WHO MAI^IED A STAR.* 

One time a maiden slept in an arbor, and as she lay under the blue 
sky she watched the stars. One star especially she watched, and she 
wished that it would become a man and marry her, for she did not care 
for any of the young men of the village. She went to sleep wishing 
that the star would marry her. When she awoke she saw no stars, but 
an old man sitting by the fireside. " Where am I ?" she asked. "Your 
wish is granted ; you are the Star's wife. I am the Star. ' ' She began 
to cry, for the man was old and homely and she was young and beautiful, 
and so she had dreamed that her husband would be. The Star's sister 
was preparing something to eat, and she told the girl to stop crying and 
come and eat. After a while the two women went out to dig potatoes. 
They saw one big potato, and the girl asked the Star's sister what the 
big potato was for. She answered that it was the door of heaven, 
and that it covered the entrance to the world beneath. Then the girl 
cried again and begged the woman to let her go back to her people. 
She told her how unhappy she was and what a mistake she had made 
in wishing to marry the Star. The woman told the Star all that his 
wife had said, and so the Star agreed to let her return to her people in 
six days. The two women went out to gather bark from young elm 
trees to make a rope for the girl to climb down to earth on. After 
they had gathered the bark they began to make the rope and the Star 
helped them. After six days the rope was only half long enough, and 
so the old man said she would have to wait six more days until they 
could complete the rope. On the eleventh day the rope was finished, 
and the Star's sister cooked some corn meal for the girl to eat on the 
way and filled a squash vessel with water for her. The Star told her 
to start early the next morning, for it would take her ten winters and 



*Told by Wing. 



28 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

summers to get to the earth. They fastened her to the end of the rope 
and then removed the potato and let her through tlie hole and gradually 
let the rope slip out. At first she could .see nothing but darkness; then 
after a long time she could see the earth. After she had traveled 
through many waves of warm and cold air, she knew she had been on 
her way many summers and winters. Her food was almost gone and 
still she was a long way from the earth. Suddenly the rope ceased to 
slip and she hung swinging back and forth. She had come to the end 
of the rope. It was not long enough. She hung there for a long time 
and was about to die from hunger and weariness when she saw Buzzard 
circling around below her. She called to Buzzard to come and help her. 
He came, and after she had told him her story he told her to get on his 
back ; that he would take her down to earth. Buzzard flew for a long 
time and the girl was heavy, so that he nearly gave out. He saw Hawk 
flying below him, and he called Hawk and asked him to help him take 
the girl home. Hawk flew with the girl until they could see the moun- 
tains and the rivers ; then he gave out. Buzzard took the girl on his 
back again, and thanking Hawk for his help, told him to go his way ; that 
he could take the girl on to her home. Buzzard flew on and on until 
they could see the trees, and soon they were even with the tops of the 
highest trees. Then Buzzard told the girl to go into her lodge when 
she went home and not to let any one but her father and mother see 
her. She was so thin that she was little more than skin and bones. 
Buzzard flew to the ground and lighted very gently just outside the 
girl's village. He pointed out her parents' ledge to her and then said 
good-bye and flew away. 

The girl re-sted for a while and then began to walk very slowly to 
the lodge, for she was weak and exhausted. On the way she saw a 
woman coming toward her. She hid behind a bush, but the woman 
saw her and .screamed, for the girl was so thin that she frightened her. 
The girl told the woman not to be afraid and told her who she was. 
Then the woman recognized the lost maiden and helped her to her 
lodge. Her mother did not know her at first, but when she found 
that the girl was her daughter she threw her arms about her and wept. 
The news of the girl's return spread throughout the village, but her 
parents obeyed her wish and refused to let any one see her until after 
the tenth day. Then they came to her tipi and .she told them her 
story and especially about the kindness shown her by Buzzard. 

After that the people always left one buffalo for the buzzards after a 
big killing. 



THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR. 29 

15. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR.* 

Long ago there lived a large family — father, mother, and eight chil- 
dren, four girls and four boys. They were all beautiful children, espe- 
cially one of the girls, who was exceptionally beautiful. The time 
came when three of the girls were married, but the youngest and most 
beautiful would not receive the attention of any one. The girl was 
peculiar in her tastes and roamed around alone. She wished to go 
away somewhere, for she was tired of her home. One time while she 
was walking alone she began praying to the spirits to help her, that she 
might go wherever she wished. That night she was outside the lodge 
watching the stars, and she found that the stars were not all alike ; that 
some were bright and some were very dim. Finally she saw one, the 
North Star, that was very bright, and then again she began to pray to 
the spirits to help her, and she wished that she might marry the star 
and become his wife. She ceased praying and did not know where she 
was for a while, and the first thing she saw was a very old man sitting by 
the fireside with his head down. She stood for a long while watching 
him. At first she could not believe herself, and she thought that she 
was only dreaming, but finally the old man looked up at her and said : 
' ' You are the young woman who wished to marry me and you have 
your wish ; you are now in my home as my wife, as you wished. ' ' She 
did not like the looks of the old man, and she wished that she might 
get away from him ; but her wish was not granted and she had to stay. 
She tried many ways to get away, but all failed, and she was about to 
give up when she thought of a great big round stone that the Star had 
told her not to move, for it was very dangerous to move it. One time 
when the Star was away on a visit she thought she would go over and 
lift the stone and see what was there. She lifted the stone and found 
that she could look clear down to the earth, and then she began to 
wonder how she could get down to the earth. She put the stone back 
in its place, and when the Star came back he asked her where she had 
been, and she told him that she had been at home all the time. When 
night came she went to bed, and as she was wondering how to get down 
to the earth she thought about making a long rope out of soapweeds, 
for she had heard the old story about the people making such a rope 
long ago. When the Star went away for his nightly trip she would go 
out and cut soapweeds ; but when he came back he would always find 
her at home, and so he never thought of her doing anything of the 
kind. Finally she had enough weeds cut, and then she began to make 
the rope. It took her a long while before she had the rope finished. 

*Told by Annie Wilson. 



30 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

One day she thought she had rope enough to reach down to the earth. 
She weut and lifted the stone to one side and dropped the rope down 
just as fast as she could. She finally came to the end of the rope ; then 
she fastened it to the rock and placed the rock over the hole again and 
went back home. When the man came she was at home, but the next 
time he went away she went to the hole and began to climb down. It 
took her a long while before she could see the land plainly, and before 
she came to the tops of the trees she came to the end of the rope, and 
she did not know what to do. She w-as getting very tired, but she 
hung there for some time, and after a while she heard a noise near her 
and she looked and saw a bird. The bird pa.ssed under her feet several 
times, and when he passed the fourth time he told her that he would 
take her down and carry her home if she would step on to his back. 
She stepped on the bird's back, and he asked her if she was ready, and 
she said that she was ; then he told her to let go of the rope. She did 
so, and the bird began to fly downward very easily. The bird asked 
if she would let him take her on to her home, and she said that she 
would. The bird then took her to her home, and w'hen they came near, 
the bird let her down and told her that he had to go back to his home ; 
but before leaving her he told her that he was Black Eagle. 

16. LIGHTNING AND THE PEOPLE. 

In the beginning Lightning lived upon the earth with the people, 
but he became so powerful and killed so many of the people that they 
feared and hated him. One time after he had become angry and killed 
a number of the people, the chiefs of the tribe called a council to deter- 
mine what to do with him. They decided that he could no longer live 
with the people, but would have to go away. Lightning pleaded to 
stay, but the chiefs would not change their decision and told him that 
he would have to go. 

Not long after Lightning had gone a great monster that lived under- 
ground among the rocks began to carry away the people. They tried 
in every way to kill him, but could not, for he always disappeared 
under the ground where they could not reach him. Lightning ap- 
peared to them and told them that he would kill the monster if they 
would let him come back and live with them. He said that he wanted 
to come back to earth, and that he would kill all monsters and make 
the earth a safe place for the people to live on, and would not do any 
more harm himself if they would let him come back. The people de- 
cided to let Lightning come, because there was no one else powerful 
enough to kill the great monster. 



THE BROTHERS WHO BECAME LIGHTNING AND THUNDER. 3I 

17. THE BROTHERS WHO BECAME LIGHTNING AND THUNDER.* 

When the world was uew there lived among the people a man and 
his wife and one child, a boy of about twelve years. The people called 
the man " Medicine-Man." Now and then he went out on the hunt, 
and never was known to come home without killing a deer, and almost 
every time he came home with a big buck. One time when he was 
out hunting he killed a deer and then started back for home, and when 
he reached home he found his little boy there alone and not as usual, 
for he looked weary and frightened. When his father asked him where 
his mother was he began to cry and said he did not know ; that all he 
knew was that she took a water bucket and went down toward the 
creek. He said that he had run over there two or three times calling 
his mother, but no answer came. Then both the little boy and Medi- 
cine-Man went down to the place where the woman usually went to 
get water, but they cuuld not find her. They found foot-prints at the 
edge of the water, and then the Medicine-Man knew that his wife and 
the mother of his only child was dead and gone ; that something had 
taken her life ; so they came back to their home and mourned for her 
six days. They built a fire and watched it and stayed by it for six 
days and nights. 

The seventh day Medicine-Man told his son that he was going hunt- 
ing, for their meat was about out. He went out to hunt and the little 
boy stayed at home alone. While his father was gone the boy would 
play around the house, shooting with his bow and arrows. When 
Medicine-Man came home he found his little son there waiting for 
him. Medicine-Man went out to hunt the second and the third time 
and found the boy safe on his return. The fourth time he went out. 
While he was gone the little boy went out to play. While he was 
shooting with his bow and arrows he saw some one coming toward 
him. He was not a man, but a boy of his own size, and had with him 
a bow and arrows. Medicine-Man's boy was afraid of him, and was 
about to run and cry when the unknown boy spoke to him, saying : 
"Don't be afraid of me, brother ; I know you don't know me. I am 
your elder brother." The unknown boy looked queer to him. He 
had a rather long nose and very long hair, but Medicine-Man's boy 
was not afraid of him since he had .spoken. He continued : "I know 
you are lonely ; that is why I thought of coming down here to .see you. 
Every time our father goes out for a hunt I will come to see you, but 
you must not tell him that I came to see you while he is gone. Say 
nothing to him about me. Now, brother, let us see who is the best 

*Told by Wing. 



32 TRADITIONS OF THH CADDO. 

shot with the bow and arrows. ' ' They began to play. Finally he said 
to his brother, " Father is coming and I must go," and he ran back to 
the woods. Medicine-Man was far from home when the boy saw him 
coming, and when he came the boj^ was gone, and his son did not say 
anything about his having been there. 

Again Medicine-Man went to hunt, the second time and the third 
and the fourth time. When he came home in the evening after he had 
been out the fourth time the boy .seemed troubled. They ate and then 
went to bed. About midnight the boj- woke up and thought of his 
.secret brother, and he thought at once that he must tell his father 
about his brother. He woke his father and said : ' ' Father, I have 
something to tell 3'ou, although I was told not to say anything about 
it to you." Medicine-Man gave very close attention. " Father, some- 
body comes here every time you go out to hunt, and he is not very 
big ; he is about my size. When he first came he frightened me and I 
started to run, but did not know where to go, and I began to cry and 
the boy told me not to be afraid of him, for he was my brother. He 
has a long nose and wears long hair and has a bow and arrows, and 
we always play around here every time you go out to hunt and he 
treats me kindly. He seems to see you, no matter where you are, and 
when you .start home he knows when you are coming, and then runs 
for the woods, and when you get here he is gone." " Well, my boj'," 
said Medicine-Man, " we must capture the boy some wa3^ You must 
go out there and play just as if I had gone away again, and whenever 
he asks you where I am, tell him I am out hunting. I will turn into a 
very small insect and stay behind the door." 

The little boy ran out next morning with the bow and arrows and 
began to play at the usual place. Finally the other boy came, but 
before he came near he spoke and asked Medicine-Man's boy where 
their father was, and the boy said that he had gone out hunting again. 
The boy began to look around, and finally he said : " Who is that man 
behind the door ? " at the same time running back to the woods. 

Again the next day the boy went out to play ; this time Medicine- 
Man placed himself at the edge of the roof of the grass house. When 
the boy came he asked his brother where their father was. He an- 
swered that he had gone out hunting, but the boy would not come 
near. He began to look around, and finallj' he said : "Who is that 
man under the roof? " and he ran back into the woods again. Then 
Medicine- Man said : " We must catch him someway. When he sits 
down near to you, tell him that something is crawling in his hair, and 
then he will let you look in his hair. Then catch hold of a small 
bunch of his hair and tie it up four times ; then call me and I will be 



THE BROTHERS WHO BECAME LIGHTNING AND THUNDER. 33 

there just as soon as I can. You must not let him go until I get 
there." The little boy understood. 

The other boy had already run away twice and this was the third 
attempt. This time Medicine-Man placed himself in the middle of the 
fire. The boy went out and began to play. Soon the other boy came. 
He asked the boy where their father was and he told him he went out 
to hunt. The unknown boy began to look around, and finally he said : 
" Who is that man in the fire? " and then he ran back to the woods. 
The next day the boy went out and began to play and the unknown 
boy came again, and asked the boy the same question. The boy an- 
swered that their father had gone out to hunt. This time Medicine- 
Man had placed himself behind another door, and the unknown boy 
found him again and went back to the woods. And so the fifth time 
came, and this time Medicine-Man placed himself in the air, and when 
the unknown boy came he found him again and went back to the 
woods. 

Medicine-Man tried once more. If he failed the sixth time he could 
do nothing more, for he would have used all his powers. He told his 
boy to go out again to play as usual, and this time his own boy did not 
see which way he had gone. Finally the other boy came and asked 
where their father was, and he told him that he was out hunting. This 
time the unknown boy believed him, and so he came near and sat down 
by him and the little boy got hold of his hair and said : " There is 
something crawling up in your hair, brother," and then the boy told 
him to get the bug out of his hair ; and the boy began to do as he had 
been told, and when he got through he called out, "All ready, father." 
Medicine-Man jumped out from the grass house, and then'they cap- 
tured the boy and took him into the grass house and held him there 
for six days. At the end of the sixth day the little boy boiled some 
water and they washed the other boy, and Medicne-Man cut his nose 
off and made it look like a human nose. Medicine- Man said : " You 
have been coming here when I am absent and have been playing 
with my son and you call him brother. Now you may be his brother 
and stay with him and go out and play with him." The boys went 
out to play, and before Medicine-Man went to hunt again he went 
over to see the boys and told them he was going to hunt, and told 
them to stay at home and not to go to a certain place in the timber, 
where some very large squirrels lived, for they often killed little chil- 
dren. After their father was gone the unknown boy told his young 
brother they would go there and see the squirrels, and so they started. 
They could not find the place for a while, but finally they did, and 
they stood there for a good while watching the big hole in the tree. 



34 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

After a while one of the big squirrels came out, and sticking his 
tongue out like a snake, took the younger brother into the tree. The 
'other boy stood there watching the squirrel take his brother into the 
hole. He did not try to help his brother, for he knew he could get him 
out of the hole whenever he wanted to. After the boy had disapj^eared 
he went back to their home, and when he got there he found their father 
already returned from the hunt. The father a.sked him where his 
son was, and the boy told him that his brother and he were making 
lots of arrows, and that he came home after fire to dry the arrows with 
it. He took the fire and carried it to the timber, where he placed it 
near the tree where the large squirrel was. Then he brought some 
hard, red stones and put them in the fire, and when the stones were 
very hot he took one of them and threw it into the hole, and then 
another one. While he was standing there watching the hole he saw 
the large squirrel come out from the hole and drop down on the ground 
dead. Then he went over and cut the squirrel's stomach open and 
found his brother in there, still alive. He took him down to the river 
and washed him and then they both went home 

Sometimes these two boys would go out to make arrows. One time 
when they went out the unknown boy made two arrows for his young 
brother ; one he painted blacl: and the other he painted blue. They 
made a .small wheel out of bark of the elm tree. One of the boys would 
stand about fiity yards away from the other, and they would roll this 
little wheel to each other and would shoot the wheel with the arrows. 
They played with the wheel every day until finally Medicine- Man's 
boy failed to hit the wheel, and the wheel kept rolling and did not stop 
until it went a long way from them, and they never found it again. 
The boy felt very bad, and he wanted to get the wheel back, and so 
the unknown boy said : ' ' Don't worry, brother, for we can get the wheel 
back again. ' ' And so they started out, and they did not let their father 
know where they were going, nor how long they would be away from 
home. They went a long way and they could see the trace of the wheel 
all the way. Finally the unknown boy said : " Well, brother, we are 
about half way now, and we must stop for a rest. ' ' They began praying 
to the spirits to help them. The unknown boy had two pecan nuts, and 
he told his brother to watch, that he was going to put one of the nuts 
in the ground. Then they began to pray again, and while they were 
praying the pecan nut began to sprout, and it grew taller and larger. 
Finally the tree grew so tall that it went clear up into the sky, and 
then the unknown boy told his brother that he was going up on this 
tree, and that he must sit near to the tree, but must never look up to 
the sky, but down on the earth, and that he was going to be gone for a 



THE BROTHERS WHO BECAME LIGHTNING AND THUNDER. 35 

good while, until he dropped all the bones that he had in his bodj- ; 
that at the last he would drop his head, and then the boy must gather 
all the bones up, put them on a pile, cover them with buffalo calf's 
hide, take the black arrow and shoot it up just as hard as he could, and 
when he heard the arrow coming down to tell him to get out of the way, 
that the arrow was coming right on him, and that the pile of bones 
would get out of the way. Then he started climbing up the tree and 
the little boy sat on the ground looking down. After quite a while he 
saw one of the bones drop, and then another and another, and so ou 
until all the bones had dropped, and then he gathered them up and 
piled them together and covered them with the buffalo calf's hide. 
Then he shot the black arrow just as he was told, and when he heard 
the arrow coming down he cried out ; " I,ook out, brother, the arrow 
is coming down right ou you. Get out of the way." His brother 
jumped out from the buffalo calf's hide, and the arrow struck right 
where the hide was. He said, " My father gave me very dangerous 
power, and so, brother, you must climb up the tree and he will give 
you power, too." The little boy climbed the tree, and he went clear 
up as far as the other boy had gone. He did not know where he was, 
and it seemed like a dream to him, and when the bones began to fall 
from his body he did not know it. All he remembered was that there 
was some one talking to him, but he did not see who it was, and the 
next thing he heard was, " I,ook out, brother, the arrow is coming 
right down on you. Get out of the waj-." He jumped out of the way 
and saw his brother standing there. His brother asked him what kind 
of a power he had received, and he told him that it was a great power. 
The boy told his brother to show him what kind of a power he had, 
and then the little boy began making a loud noise that sounded like 
thunder when it rains, and then the unknown boy let his tongue out 
and it looked like a flash of lightning. 

They went on until they came to a large lake, and when the\' looked 
near to the edge of the water they saw the trace where the wheel had 
passed into the water, but they could not find any place to cross. 
They sat down on the bank of the lake and began to praj^ again, and 
the boy planted another pecan nut, and soon a large tree sprang up ; 
but this time the tree did not grow upward, but bent over across the 
lake to the opposite bank, and so made a bridge for them to cross upon. 
They went across the lake, and when thej' got across they saw the 
trace of the wheel, and a little way from the landing place they saw a 
narrow road leading toward the east, and a little way from the end of 
the road they saw that the trace of the wheel was gone. A little way 
from there they saw an old man going toward the lake, and then the 



36 TRADITIONS OF THH CADDO. 

boy who had the power of lightning said : " We must kill this man, 
because we know he is a bad man ; he is a cannibal." When they 
met this old man Lightning boy said to Thunder boy : " This is the 
old man who took our wheel, and he has it with him now, and it is in 
his right side. ' ' They killed the old man and found the wheel and 
took it, and then they went on and they saw, a long distance from 
them, a smoke, and they went there and found many people. The 
people did not know who they were at first ; they thought they were 
the old man, for this old man whom they had killed was their head 
man ; and so these two brothers killed all the rest of the people. They 
began to look all around and finally the}' came to a pile of human 
bones. They found the bones of the wife of Medicine-Man. Only 
one little finger was missing. They piled the bones together and cov- 
ered them with the buffalo calf's hide, and Lightning boy shot the 
black arrow up, and when they heard the arrow coming down they 
said: "Look out, mother, the black arrow is coming right on you. 
Get out of the way," and the woman jumped out of the way. The 
boys greeted their mother, and then they all started back for their 
home, and when they came near to their home Lightning boy said that 
he was going on ahead. The other boy and his mother came on behind. 
Lightning boy got there first and found their father a very old man, 
and still weeping for his children. The yard around the grass house 
was overgrown with tall trees and weeds and grass, for the old man 
was not able to work any more. Lightning boy told him that his son 
and his lost wife were coming. The old man was glad, and went out 
to meet them. They all lived happily for a number of years ; then 
the father and mother died. The boys were lonely then, and so they 
decided to leave this world. They went up in the sk\\ and now when 
the clouds gather together for a storm Lightning and Thunder, which 
are these two boys who once lived on the earth and killed the monsters 
that lived here, are seen in their midst. 

18. SPLINTER FOOT BOY. 

An orphan boy who li\ed alone with his grandmother was a famous 
hunter and often went out on a long hunt with his friends. One time, 
while they were a long way from home, the boj' was wounded by a stick 
that pierced his leg and broke off inside of it. His leg festered and 
swelled up so that he could not walk and his friends had to carry him 
home. His leg continued to swell until it was as large as his body ; then 
the skin broke, but instead of the stick coming out, a child came. The 
boy was angry and would not look at the child or have anything to do 
with it. His grandmother took pity upon the baby and cared for it. 



SPLINTER FOOT BOY. 37 

One day while she was away the boy took the child and carried it to 
the lake, where he left it to starve or be eaten by the wild animals. He 
was afraid to return to his grandmother's home for fear she would know 
that he had thrown his child away, and so he went far off and lived 
alone. The child lay on the shore of the lake for a long time, and as he 
lay there he grew to be a good-sized boy. Finally many birds flew over 
the lake, and when they were about half way across the lake, the water 
appeared to leap up to the sky and draw the birds down. Every day 
the boy saw the water leap up to the sky whenever any birds flew past, 
and one time he saw a big water monster in the water. He saw the 
monster draw so many birds into the water that he was afraid it would 
kill all the birds in the land, and he wished that he could kill it. While 
he was thinking about a way to kill the monster, he felt some one hit 
him on the back. He turned around and there behind him stood a boy 
about his own age. He was Medicine-Screech-Owl, but the boy did 
not know who he was or anything about him. Medicine-Screech-Owl 
asked the boy what he was thinking about, and the boy told him that 
he was thinking how he could kill the water monster that ate up all of 
the birds. Medicine-Screech-Owl told the boy that he would help him 
kill the monster. He showed him where the old woman, his grand- 
mother lived , and then he told him to go to her house and get six arrows 
and a bow and six grains of corn from six kinds of corn and then return 
to the lake. 

When the boy went to the old woman's house she was surprised and 
happy to see him, for she had been very lonely since the orphan boy 
and his son had disappeared, and had given up all hope of ever seeing 
them again. The boy told her what he wanted, and she gave him all 
he asked for. Then he returned to the lake, where he found Medicine- 
Screech-Owl waiting for him. Medicine- Screech-Owl took three grains 
of each of the six kinds of corn and threw them into the air. They 
became birds and flew out across the water, and the water monster 
leaped up to draw them down. As he leaped up Medicine-Screech-Owl 
cried to the boy to shoot it. He shot the first arrow, but it did not go 
near the monster. The .second went nearer, and so did the third, fourth, 
and fifth, and the sixth pierced it through. The great monster rolled 
over on its side and floated on the water, and then they could see how 
large it was. Medicine-Screech-Owl said that it was the largest water 
monster in the world. He told the boy to take his bow and pull the 
animal to dry land, but the boy knew that he could not move the mon- 
ster with his little bow, and so did not try. To his surprise Medicine- 
Screech-Owl took his bow, that was even .smaller, and pulled the great 
monster to the bank. When he had done this he disappeared, and then 



38 TRADITIONS OP THE CADDO. 

the boy went back to his grandmother's house and told her about the 
boy he had met at the lake and how they had killed the big water mon- 
ster. The old woman knew that the boy's companion was Medicine- 
Screech-Owl, and .she also knew that he had given the boy wonderful 
power, though she said nothing. 

The next day the boy went to the lake again. He found the water 
very low, since the monster had been pulled out of the lake, and it was 
.so clear that he could .see many fish .swimming about. He dived down 
to catch some of the fish, and a big sword-fish .swam up to him and 
went right through him. The boy, though severeh^ wounded, did not 
die, but shot the fish with his bow and arrow. The next day he again 
went to the lake to fish, but found that all the water had gone. In 
the mud he saw two large shells. He carried them home and cut them 
.so that he could put them over the holes that the sword-fish had made 
when it cut its way through him. He wore one in front and one be- 
hind, so that no one could see the woiuids that the fi.sh had made. 
The shells had the power to hear any sound in the whole w'orld, and 
whenever he wanted to hear anything he removed the shells from the 
holes and put them to his ears. With the power of hearing every 
sound in the world and the power given to him by Medicine-Screech - 
Owl, he became a great medicine-man and the people began to fear him 
and planned to kill him. When he heard that they were going to kill 
him he told his grandmother that they would leave the people, but 
that he would do them harm some time because they had plaimed to 
kill him, and .so made it neces.sary for him and his grandmother to 
leave. They went to a high mountain near the village, and made 
their grass hou.se on the very top of it. He found two fierce dogs and 
placed them at his door to guard the hou.se. 

The boy knew who the people were who had planned to kill him, 
becau.se he had heard them talking bj' meaus of his wonderful shells. 
Soon they died, one after another, initil the people of the village began 
to su.spect that the boy was bewitching them and causing them to die. 
Many of the warriors tried to steal up to his home on the mountain 
and kill him, but with the magic shells he could always hear them 
coming, and would .set the dogs on them, so that they could never 
approach. 

He kept on bewitching so many people that finally Medicine-Screech- 
Owl decided that he would have to interfere. He started up the trail 
to the boy's hou.se, but first he blew his breath so hard that it took the 
magic power of sound from the shells, so that the boy could not hear 
him coming. When he was almost at the top of the mountain he blew 
his breath again and the dogs rolled over asleep, and when he passed 



SPLINTER FOOT BOY. 39 

them they were so souud asleep that they did uot wake up and bark or 
give any warning of approach. He passed the dogs ; then he blew his 
breath again and the old woman fell over asleep. Again he blew his 
breath, and the boy fell down asleep. Medicine-Screech-Owl then 
entered the house and took the shells off of the boy. He walked around, 
looking at everything, then went away. When he was almost down 
the mountain he blew his breath and the boy woke up. He missed his 
shells at once and began to look everj'where for them. He called his 
grandmother to come and help him look, but she did not wake up. 
Finally he shook her so hard that he shook all of Medicine-Screech- 
Owl's breath out of her, and then she woke up and helped him look 
for his shells. He went outside and found the dogs asleep ; then he knew 
that some one had been to his house and stolen his shells. He called 
the dogs, but could uot wake tliem, and so he took a club and knocked 
the breath out of them. They woke up and at once scented Medicine- 
Screecli-Owl's tracks and started after him. The boy followed, and 
they soon came to a big circle of fire. In the midst of the burning circle 
stood Medicine-Screech-Owl, and he was wearing the shells. The boy 
had no power that would take him through fire, and so he had to return 
without his shells. Mediciue-Screech-Owl kept the shells for some time, 
and then he took them back to the boy, but before he gave them to him 
he made him promise that he would not bewitch the people any more. 

19. MEDICINE-SCREECH-OWL. » 

Mediciue-ScreecliOwl was born at Long-Timber-on-the-Top-of-tlie- 
Hill. His father and mother were very old and lived near the center 
of the village. Wheu his first birthday came he was given bow and 
arrows. His father and mother were asking each other what name 
they should give to their child, but before thej^ could name him he 
spoke and said, " My name shall be Medicine-Screech-Owl." His 
mother scolded him, because at this time there was also a man by the 
name of Medicine-Screech-Owl, and he was an ex-chief ; but he said 
that he would have no other name, and so his parents named him 
Medicine-Screech-Owl. One night some one passed near the village 
and heard the child's mother calling him by the name of the ex-chief. 
When the man came to the ex-chief's place he told him that the child's 
name was the same as his. When the ex-chief heard this he was 
augry, and told the people that he was going to kill the boy if he did 
not do as he should tell him to do. He sent for him, and when the boy 
came to his lodge he gave him watermelon seed and said : ' ' Go back 
and plant this watermelon .seed this evening. In the morning go and 

*Told by White House (Caddo Jack). 



40 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

bring to me a great big watermelon to eat." " All right," said young 
Medicine Screech-Owl. He took the seed, went back to his village, and 
told his father and mother what the ex-chief had told him to do. That 
evening the boj' went out a short distance from his lodge, threw the 
seeds upon the ground, and there sprang up a large watermelon plant. 
He then went back to the lodge and told his father and mother what 
had happened. Early in the morning he went out to his watermelon 
vine, and he found many large watermelons on it. He took one of the 
melons to the ex-chief, who was surprised, and he thought that surely 
the boy was going to be a wonderful man. He was so jealous of him 
that he determined to destroy him, for he thought that if he did not 
young Medicine-Screech-Ovvl would get ahead of him in every way, 
and that the people would no longer pay him any attention. The boy 
went back to his village and told his father and mother all about what 
had happened. The ex-chief sent for the boy the second time, and the 
boy again went to his lodge. The ex-chief had brought the boy a large 
bull to milk. He told him to take the bull to his lodge and to bring 
the milk over the next morning. The boy took the bull over to his 
village, but instead of milking it when morning came he took an axe 
and went out near the ex-chief's lodge to chop .some wood, and when 
the ex-chief saw him chopping wood he went to him and asked him if 
he had already milked the bull. The boy told the ex-chief that he 
had not milked the bull, but that he was in a hurry to cut some wood 
to take home. The ex-chief asked him why he was taking the wood 
home. " Well," said the boj-, " m}- father is going to have a child." 
The ex-chief laughed at the boy and asked him if he ever had seen a 
man have a child. The boy said, "No; I never have." Then he 
asked the ex-chief if he ever had seen a man milk a bull or a bull give 
milk. The ex-chief was verj- angry. The boy returned to his lodge 
and told his father and mother what had happened. The third time 
the ex-chief sent to have the boy come over to his lodge, informing him 
that he and some of his friends were going to have a fine time and a 
big dinner. In the meantime the ex-chief and the others were digging 
a big hole in the ground, in which they were going to throw the boy. 
They dug the hole about fifty feet deep and about four feet in diameter 
and covered it with a buffalo robe. When the boy came the ex-chief 
told him that he had already fixed a place for him to sit. Young Medi- 
cine-Screech-Owl never left his bow and arrows, but always had them 
with him everj' where he went. When he entered the ex-chief's lodge 
they told him to be seated. He laid down his arrows and bow and went 
and sat down on the hide, and down he went into the hole. The ex- 
chief was very glad, for he thought surely he had killed the boy. He 



MSDICINE-SCREECH-OWL. 4I 

commenced filling the hole with heavy stones and dirt until he supposed 
that the boy was dead. 

One evening the same person, who had passed the lodge and heard 
the boy's mother calling him by the ex-chief's name, passed again, and 
again heard her calling the same name, and he heard young Medicine- 
Screech-Owl answering her. The man went to the ex-chief's lodge and 
told him that the boy was still living, because while he was passing by 
his lodge he had heard his mother calling him and had heard him 
answering. When the ex-chief heard this he became very angry, and 
said that he was going to try once more, and if he failed to kill the boy 
this time he would leave him alone. He sent for the boy the fourth 
time. He came, and found that they had built up a big fire. The 
ex-chief told the boy to go right into the middle of the fire and sit 
down, for he wanted to see if he had any powers at all ; that if he had 
any powers he would not burn up. The boy went into the midst of 
the fire and sat down for a long time, until the fire burned out ; then 
he arose unharmed. When he had come out of the fire he made another 
big fire and told the ex-chief that it was his turn to go into the fire, to 
show whether or not he had any power. The ex-chief went in and 
the fire burned him to death. 

From that time on the boy would go from place to place. Finally 
he grew to be almost a man in size. Many times he would run away 
from his father and mother, and when he returned his mother would 
scold him. Still he continued to go off wherever he pleased. The 
reason why his mother scolded him so much when he went anywhere 
was because she knew that there were many people who were envious 
of his power and would trj' to kill him ; but the boy did not care for 
that. There was one place where three of his enemies were living, 
who were always talking about killing him. Medicine-Screech-Owl 
heard these men talking about him, and so one day he determined to 
visit them. He quietly stole away from his father and mother, for he 
dared not say anything to them about going, for fear they would not 
let him go. When he came to the place he found the three men at 
home, and when they saw him coming they all came out from their 
lodge and were very glad to see him, for they had been wishing for a 
long time that he would come. They asked him where he was going. 
He replied that he had come over for a visit to his friends. They asked 
him to go into the lodge. Young Medicine-Screech-Owl knew that he 
was to go in first, and that all the others would come in and attempt 
to kill him. The door they had to enter was very small, although big 
enough for one man at a time to enter. When Medicine-Screech-Owl 
had entered he stood by the door and waited for the others to come in. 

4D 



42 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

His only chance was to kill them. He stood by the door waiting and 
ready to strike the first to enter. As the first man entered, he struck 
him on the head and killed him, then pulled him in just as quickly as 
he could, to make it appear that the man had entered without anything 
happening. Thus he killed the second and the third man. Then he 
returned home and told his mother and father all that had happened. 
Another time there was a man called Snow-and-Cold, living with his 
family far away in the north. When anybod)- went over there on a 
visit and happened to stay o\-er night, he would be frozen before 
morning. Medicine-Screech-Owl heard all about this man and made 
up his mind to go and visit him and his family. One day he started 
out. It took him a long time to reach the place, for he had to go 
across a large lake. When he came to the water he stood on the edge 
of the bank. He wore on his head an eagle feather, and he took the 
eagle feather off from his head and placed it on the water and placed 
himself on the eagle feather. The feather began to sail across the 
water. On the other side of the water were many geese, and when 
any one came across the water the geese would make so much noise 
that the people at the home of Snow-and-Cold would know at once 
that somebody was coming. When j-oung Medicine-Screech-Owl went 
across to visit old man Snow-and-Cold the geese did not .see him when 
he landed on the other side. He stepped off from his eagle feather 
and placed it on his head again and walked straight to the place where 
Snow-and-Cold lived. All this time nobody had seen him. Medicine- 
Screech-Owl went into the lodge where Snow-and-Cold was and found 
him lying down, asleep. Medicine-Screech-Owl spoke to him and 
asked him how he was getting along. When Snow-and-Cold awoke he 
looked around, but could see no one. Again Medicine-Screech-Owl 
spoke to him, and this time Snow-and-Cold arose from his bed and 
began to look around. He could find no one in the room. When he 
started to lie down again Medicine-Screech-Owl spoke to him and 
showed himself. Snow-and-Cold was surprised to see Medicine-Screech- 
Owl there and asked him what he wanted. Medicine-Screech-Owl re- 
plied that he had come over on a visit, because he had heard so much 
of the place. When evening came Snow and-Cold told the boy to sleep 
right there, in a bed which had nothing but snow on it. After they 
had gone to bed Snow-and-Cold did not go to sleep, but kept watching 
the boy, for he thought he would surely freeze to death in a little 
while ; but ever>- time Snow-and-Cold looked over to see him he would 
see a light right next to his head. He wondered what it could be. 
Medicine-Screech-Owl had his feather sticking straight up on his pillow 
during the night. Snow-and-Cold arose, reached for the cane which 
he had placed at the foot of his bed next to a place that seemed like a 



MEDICINE-SCRKECH-OWL. 43 

fireplace. Medicine-Screech-Owl watched him all this time, but he did 
not know that he was being watched. Snow-and-Cold took the cane 
and punched the snow where it seemed like a fireplace, and the fire 
sprang out from the snow. When he had warmed himself he covered 
the fire and went back to his bed. Soon he saw Medicine-Screech-Owl 
get out of his bed, go for the cane, and punch the place, and out came 
the fire. When Mediciue-Screech-Owl was through warming himself 
he walked back to his bed. Suow-and-Cold did not know what to 
think of Medicine-Screech-Owl. The next morning Snow-and-Cold 
called to Medicine-Screech-Owl to get up from his bed. He thought 
he had been frozen to death, but the boy jumped up and said that he 
had had a fine sleep. After he was through talking to Suow-and-Cold 
he said he would have to go back home ; that his mother would not 
like it if he should stay out another day. He started back, and when 
he reached home he told his mother all about it. 

20. MEDICINE-SCREECH-OWL.* 

In a village there lived an old man, his wife, and one child, a beautiful 
girl. The girl had never been known to have a male acquaintance, and 
was always modest and well-beloved. Nevertheless, in some way she 
became pregnant. Her father and mother noticed this and called her 
attention to the fact, and asked her how it had happened and who was 
the father of the child. In those days it was the custom to find out all 
about such matters. The girl herself did not know how she had come 
to be in that condition and could not answer their questions. Her 
people were angry at her and much ashamed, but could not get her 
to answer any of their questions. She went as usual with the girls of 
the village to dig potatoes, but she could never find any and always 
returned without any. One time, after her mother had scolded her for 
never bringing home any potatoes, she was wandering slowly about 
trying to find some when she heard a voice cry, ' ' Mother. ' ' She looked 
about, but could see uo one. Again she heard the cry, and then she 
knew that it was the child in her womb that was crj'ing. The voice 
told her to go to a certain place and dig. She obeyed and found many 
large potatoes. When the other girls saw them they wondered, for 
they knew that she was never successful in finding them. 

The child was born and, at his own request, was called Medicine- 
Screech-Owl. The mother and child lived apart from the others and 
were very poor and often hungry, for they had no one to hunt food for 
them, and all they had to eat was what people gave to them. The 
child grew rapidly and was soon large enough to play with the other 

* Told by Wing. 



44 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

little boys. There was a lake near the village where the men fished, 
and the children were accustomed to go to the lake and watch them. 
One time Medicine-Screech-Owl asked his mother if he could not fish 
too. She only laughed at him and told him that he was too little ; 
but he begged so hard that she finally said he might go and try. 
He went, taking his little bow and arrows, and soon returned with a 
big fish. His mother was greatly surprised and gave her consent for 
him to go the next day. Again he came home with a big fish, and 
again and again, until his fame as a fisherman spread throughout the 
village. 

There were many who did not like the boj- becau.se they did not know 
who his father was, and when they heard about his success they began 
to fear him and decided to kill him. There was among the people a 
powerful Medicine- Man, and they asked him to use his powers against 
the boy and kill him. 

One daj', while the boy was at the lake fishing, he saw the reflection 
of a big, black cloud in the water. He knew that the Medicine- Man 
was sending Thunder to try to kill him, but he did not fear. He walked 
into the water until it was up to his knees. Then came a peal of thunder 
and a shaft of lightning. He raised his bow over his head and the light- 
ning rolled from it into the water. Again and again the lightning shafts 
struck at him, but every time he caught them on his bow and hurled 
them into the water. At last the Medicine-Man realized that the boy 
had more power over Thunder than he had, and so he gave up. That 
evening the boy returned home with a big fish and told his mother what 
had happened. 

Nothing more happened for a long time, but one day while the boy 
was lying in his lodge resting it occurred to him that something was 
going to happen to him. He arose from his bed, took his bow and arrows, 
went back to his bed, lay down and began to sing. Soon he heard a 
great noise, and he knew that the Medicine-Man was sending Cannibal 
monster to destroy him. He heard the monster's roar, that sounded like 
thunder, but he laj' still and sang as though he had nothing to fear. 
As the monster came nearer he could feel its hot breath, but he did not 
move until it leaped upon his lodge and fell through with an awful 
crash. Then he aro.se and killed it. 

After that Medicine-Screech-Owl started out to travel, and he went 
from place to place, killing monsters and ferocious animals and healing 
the sick. Where he was, death could not come, and so powerful was 
his touch that people were healed if he placed his hand on the diseased 
place. Finally, after he had been with the people for a long time, he 
called them together and told them that he was going to leave them. 
He disappeared and has not been seen since. 



THE ORPHAN BOY WHO BECAME A WRESTLER. 45 

21. THE ORPHAN BOY WHO BECAME A WRESTLER.* 

A boy lived alone with his old grandfather. His mother and father 
died when he was only a baby, and there was no one to care for him 
but his grandfather. They lived together, and the old man cared for 
the child as best he could until he had become old enough to play 
around. The grandfather was looking forward to the time when he 
could make bows and arrows for the boy and teach him to hunt, but 
before that time came the old man died and the boy was left alone. 
He went from lodge to lodge and begged, and whatever the people 
gave him he ate and was grateful. At night he returned to his lonely 
lodge and cried, for he was poor and alone and afraid. The boys of 
the village came to his lodge to see him, and they teased him and 
laughed at him because he was sad and did not know how to play as 
they did. He was brave and did not lose courage. When he was 
larger he made himself a bow and some arrows and went out to hunt. 
He brought back small game at first and was happy, because he no 
longer had to beg. 

One time when he was out alone far in the timber he heard a voice 
singing and calling to him to wait. He waited and a strange boj^ came 
running through the bushes. The stranger was homely, but so full of 
fun and energy that the poor orphan bo}' determined to make him his 
friend. They played together, and finally they tried to see which was 
the stronger. The stranger looked much stronger than the orphan, 
but, to his surprise, he found that he could easily throw him. The 
orphan boy could not understand how he could throw the strong- 
looking boy so easily, for all the boys in the village made fun of him 
because they could so easily throw him. The strange boy arose and 
smiled and said : "I have given you my power. I am a wonderfully 
strong man. I have given that power to you. Now you can go back 
to your village and throw any one you please. I have been watching 
you and seeing how the boys teased you. I have decided to give you 
power. Now you are one of the strongest men in the world and can 
throw an}' one. ' ' 

The stranger disappeared. The boy lay down to rest, for it had 
grown dark and he could not find his way home. The sun arose and 
the boy waked and started on to hunt. He killed three deer and started 
home with them. His load was heav}' and he could not go fast. When 
he was far from home"darkuess came again. He lay down on some soft 
grass to rest until daylight. Soon he heard a voice, and looking up he 
saw the same stranger who had appeared to him the night before. The 

♦Told by Wins. 



46 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

Stranger asked the boj' if he would not go to the meeting place where 
he and all his friends met to wrestle. The boy said that he would go. 
Thestranger helped him carry his meat, and soon they were at the place. 
There were many boys and men there. One .stepped forward and asked 
the orphan boy to wrestle with him. The boy easily threw him. A 
second, third, fourth, and fifth came forward, and he threw one after 
another. Then the strong men began to fear the boy, and they all went 
away and left him alone with only the one who had given him the power. 
While they sat down to rest, the strong man told the boy more things 
about the wonderful power he had given him and how to use it. When 
the sun aro.se the strong man disappeared and the boy took up his 
meat and returned home. He had been home but a few days when it 
was noised about the village that the boys were going to have some 
wrestling matches. He went to watch the wrestling, but stood far out 
from the ring among the spectators. Soon a young man from the ring 
called him to come in, if he were not a coward. He only shook his head. 
Again the young man called, not thinking that he would come, but only 
to tease him. The boj' at once threw off his blanket and ran into the 
ring. In a short time he threw the man and killed him. Then he 
asked for another to come and fight with him. None came. All were 
afraid of his great strength. The report of his deeds soon spread among 
the people, and it was not long before he had the respect and fear of all. 

22. THE DANGEROUS WATER MONSTER.* 

When the world was new and not well known it was a dangerous 
place to live in. One time when there were manj' people camping 
near a small creek one of the men went down to the creek to get 
water. After he had finished drinking he looked into the water and 
saw a large animal that looked like a snake. It was slowly moving 
up the creek and he saw that it was very long. He ran up the creek 
to see how long it was, and he ran about two miles before he came 
to its head. Then he started for the camp, and when he arrived 
he went to his grandfather, who was alwaj-s at home, because he was 
a very old man and could not hunt with the others. He told him 
what he had seen, and when he finished telling him the grandfather 
said: "You have .seen some wonderful thing, my son, that has been 
sent as a sign to our people." He did not know what the sig^ was 
and so he called for the errand man, and when he came the old man 
told him to call all the people together at his lodge, for he had something 
to tell them. When the people came in he at once told them about 
what his grandson had seen. Some of the men would not believe him, 

♦ Told by Wing. 



THE DANGEROUS WATER MONSTER. 47 

but most of them went down to the creek and there saw the water 
monster and knew that the man had told the truth. They all wondered 
why it had come and whether it was a good or evil omen. The old 
men tried to recall the past, to find out if the people had ever had a 
similar sign sent to them, but could not remember any. There was 
one man in the camp who was old and blind, and he knew many won- 
derful things ; and so the people went for him, and when he came the 
chief asked him if he knew what the appearance of the water monster 
pieant. The old man sat there for a while without a word, and every 
one was very quiet. " Well," he said, finallj', " the sign is a very bad 
one, for it signifies that the waters .shall rise in a short time." It was 
not long until the waters rose and formed a large lake. The lake was 
ver\- dangerous. When one crossed it he had to cross without saying 
a word to anj^ one. 

One time there were four men who went out hunting on the other 
side of the lake, and after they had killed much game tlie}^ started back 
again. They crossed the lake without making any noise and were within 
a short distance of the opposite .shore when one man, who was very 
brave, thought he would see what the water would do to them if he 
spoke. He began to talk very loud, and in a little while the water rose 
up in a cloud over their heads and they were all drowned but the one 
man who had told that the water was very dangerous and warned the 
man not to talk. He went home empty-handed, for his bow and arrows 
had been washed awaj-. He called some other men together and told 
them what had happened and asked them to go with him to search 
for the bodies of the men. Two of the bodies were found, but the body 
of the man who made the noise could not be found. 

23. SLAYING THE MONSTERS BY FIRE.* 

In the olden time the world was full of all kinds of wild animals who 
ate people and tame animals. In those times Coj^ote called all the people 
together to a council to see what could be done with the wild animals, 
because they were getting so bad that the people could not go away 
from their homes to hunt food or to visit each other. At the council 
they decided to set fire to all the grass, which was as high as trees, and 
so burn the wild animals and everj'thing on the earth. They chose 
White- Headed-Hawk and Crow, because they were the swiftest of all 
the people, to fly to some bright Star and tell the Star that they were 
coming to his home to live. The Star told them that there was room 
for the people in the heavens if they could get up there. The messen- 
gers returned and reported to the people. They decided to make a long 

* Told by White-Bread. 



48 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

rope out of soapweed and go to heaven on that. Tlie3- began to gather 
the soapweed and twist it into a strong rope. The rope was finished ; 
then White-Headed-Hawk and Crow took it and again flew to the 
hea\-ens. Thej' gave the end of the rope to the Star, who put one end 
of it under a big stone and let it hang down. It was so long that it 
reached the earth, and the people saw it hanging ready for them to 
crawl up when the time came. They appointed two men, Gray and 
Black Snakes, to carrj- the fire over the world. One was to carry the 
fire to the east, then to the south ; the other was to carry it to the west, 
then to the north. Soon the people noticed a cloud of smoke, and then 
the .sun began to fade and look dim, and a great noise of all the wild 
animals arose. The people saw the fire coming nearer, and so they 
began to climb the rope. After all the people were on the rope and had 
climbed up a little way the wild animals came and began to climb up. 
The people saw the animals coming up, and so they appointed Bat to 
cut the rope just above the wild animals, and they gave him sharp teeth 
to cut the rope with. Bat began to fly around as though looking for a 
place on the rope to stay. Finally he asked the first wild animal to let 
him in by him, and he did. After a while the animal noticed that Bat 
was eating something, and he a.sked him what it was, and Bat said that 
he was eating a parched grain of corn that his grandmother had given 
him. He kept on chewing the rope when the animal was not looking, 
and finally the rope broke and let all of the wild animals down and 
many were killed. Bat went down to make sure that all were killed 
or burned. He saw an immense animal on the ground and all the other 
animals crawling into it to escape the fire. Bat went into the animal's 
nose and pulled out some hairs. This made the animal .sneeze and blow 
all of the other animals out and the}' burned to death. Bat flew up to 
tell the people that all the wild bad animals were killed, and so they all 
came down the rope again. 

24. SLAYING IHE MONSTERS BY FIRE.* 

In the beginning of the world there were animals that lived with 
human beings and were kind and friendh-, but there were other animals 
that were very strong and dangerous. At that time, when the earth 
was new, the grass was taller than the highe.st trees are now, and many 
wild animals prowled through the high grass, and that was the reason 
why the world was so very dangerous. One time the people met in 
council to make plans to kill all the dangerous animals in the world, 
and Morning Star, who was one of the head men in the council, arose 
and said: "There is onh- one way to kill these animals and that is to 

« Told by Wing. 



SLAYING THE MONSTERS BY FIRE. 49 

burn the grass all over the world. I know how large the world is and 
what a big task we have, but we must do it." 

As every one was willing to try Morning Star's plan, he told a man 
who was present at the council that most of the work would fall to him, 
but that he would appoint two men to help him carry out the work. 
The man's name was Fire, and the first man appointed to help Fire was 
the fastest runner in the world, and his name was Black Snake ; the 
second man was the .slowest in the world, and his name was Skunk. 
Fire took hold of Black Snake's tail and put fire on the end of it, and 
then took hold of Skunk's hind foot and placed fire between his toes. 
They both started out at the same time, the one going to the north, 
the other around to the south, .so as to meet somewhere in the west, 
since they started in the east. While these two were on their way the 
people decided to make a long rope out of soapweeds that would reach 
up to the sky. Everybody' helped make the rope, and as they worked 
Pigeon would go up into the blue sky to see how near the fire had 
approached. After a time the people could see that the sky was getting 
very dark on account of the smoke from the fire, and so the}^ worked 
hard and fast to get their rope long enough. Finally the)' had the 
rope finished, and they appointed Crow to take it up to the sky. Crow 
took the rope and flew and flew until he was out of sight, and it was a 
long time before he returned, but when he came he assured the people 
that he had the rope firmly fastened to the sky. The fire was approach- 
ing rapidly, and so the people began climbing up the rope. After the 
people had climbed up, all kinds of animals came and began to get 
hold of the rope, and all the bad animals came, and then the rope 
began to move upward. After the people were high up they sent a 
man down the rope as far as the first bad animal. This man's name 
was Bat, and becau.se he had very sharp teeth he was sent to cut the 
rope. The animal saw him chewing something and asked him what 
he was eating. Bat said that his grandmother had parched some corn 
for him and that he was eating it. He kept on cutting the rope, and 
finallj' it broke and let the bad animals fall down. When the animals 
dropped down to the ground Bat followed them down to see what 
would become of them. He saw a large animal and heard it call 
all the other animals to enter his body through his nose, ears, and 
mo.uth. These animals went in, and so large was the big animal that 
it had room inside of it for all the bad animals. After all the others 
were in, Bat slipped in and began to pull out some hair from the 
animal's nose. That made the animal .sneeze, and he sneezed so hard 
that he threw all the other animals out through his no.se. The animals 
were .scattered every place and burned, for the fire was upon them. 



50 TRADITIONS OI' THE CADDO. 

Bat flew up where the people were, but he was scorched a little before 
he could get there, and that is the reason bats are yellowish in color. 
After the bad animals had all been burned the people returned to the 
world again, and ever since the world has been a good place to live 
upon. 

25. HOW THE BUFFALO CEASED TO EAT HUMAN BEINGS.* 

When the world was new there were many wild and fierce animals, 
and the buffalo were among the fiercest, for they ate human beings. 
In tho.se days the buffalo were many-colored and roamed the plains in 
great herds, and were .so numerous that men could not go out on the 
plains alone for fear of being caught by them. There was one great 
man who received power from the Father, and he had the power to go 
right into the midst of these terrible animals and kill them without 
being hurt. That man was Buzzard, and he was the only man who 
possessed such power. All the other people had to live in ^'illages 
together that they might protect each other aud hunt together. One 
time some men went out in the timber alone to hunt turke}' and deer. 
They wandered far, and when they started home they found that they 
had to cress a long stretch of lonely prairie. While they were hurry- 
ing across the vast stretch of country they saw a black cloud ari.se in 
the west and come nearer and nearer, until at last they knew that a 
great herd of buffalo was sweeping down upon them. They threw the 
game from their backs, threw away their bow-s and arrows, aud ran as 
fa.st as the wind. The buffalo, dangerous as they were, were not good 
runners, and so the men reached the timber before them and ran into 
the dense thicket. 

After these men succeeded in escaping, the people took courage and 
ventured farther away from home. One time four men went out to 
hunt bear. They went into the timber that lay between two moun- 
tains and there they found the fresh tracks of a bear. Thej^ trailed it 
all through the timber and over the mountain, and found it at the edge 
of the timber at the foot of the mountain. The bear ran out to the 
open plain and the men pursued and killed it. While thej' were cut- 
ting it up to carry home they heard a great noise, like thunder, coming 
across the plains. The\' looked aud saw that the buffalo were upon 
them. They tried to escape, but it was too late. The buffalo caught 
all but one man, who succeeded in gaining the timber and climbing a 
tall tree. All day the buffalo surrounded the tree and tried to butt it 
down, but could not. Night came on, then they returned to the plains 
and the man climbed down and ran to his home. He told all the 

»Told by White-Bread. 



HOW THE BUFFALO CEASRD TO EAT HUMAN BEINGS. 5 1 

people how the buffalo had surprised them and had killed his three 
companious. The people hastened to the place, but found nothing but 
a few bones scattered about. From that time on the buffalo ate many 
people, until Co}rote came. Then the people left this dangerous coun- 
try and went into another. They went through the gate to the new 
country^ and Coyote went with them. He was the last to go through 
the gate, and as he went he shut the gate, so no dangerous animals 
could enter, and he let through only a few buffalo who had never 
tasted human flesh and so were not dangerous. 

26. THE GIRL WHO HAD POWER TO CALL THE BUFFALO. 

A girl who had power to call the buffalo lived with her six brothers. 
The brothers were stars, and every night they left the girl to travel 
through the sky. Every morning after they had returned from their 
nightly journey they put the girl in a swing of lariat rope that hung 
down from the skj^ and swung her through the air. As she swung 
through the air the buffalo saw her and came. The boys killed all that 
they wanted, and then the rest of the herd went away. In this way 
the girl called the buffalo for her brothers, and so they alwaj-s had 
plenty to eat. 

One time Coyote came to visit them, and, finding that they always 
had meat, he decided to come and live with them. The brothers did 
not think much of Coyote, but they decided to let him stay. Every 
morning he watched the boys put their sister in the swing and swing 
her until the buffalo came. Before the brothers would let Coyote watch 
them swing her they made him promise that he would never try to do 
the same while they were gone, because if any one else tried to swing 
the girl he would swing her too hard and she would swing to the sky 
and never return. Coyote promised, but one day while all of the 
brothers were gone he called the girl to come and get into the swing. 
She refused, but he threatened her and made her obey him. She 
climbed into the swing and Coj'ote pushed her. The buffalo did not 
come, and so he pushed her again and caused her to go higher and 
higher through the air until she disappeared. Coyote became fright- 
ened and called to her to come down, sajdng that if she did not come 
he would jump up and pull her down. The girl did not come, and he 
could not see her. 

When the brothers came home they missed their sister and asked 
Coyote where she was. He said that he did not know, but that he 
thought some monster had carried her away. The brothers knew that 
Coyote had lied, and that he had been the cause of her disappearance. 
They drove Coyote away, telling him that he and his children would 



52 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

always be hungry because he had disobeyed them. Then they held 
a council among themselves and decided to go to the sky and live there 
with their sister. 

27. THE OLD WOMAN WHO KEPT ALL THE PECANS.* 

There lived an old woman who was mother to all the pecan trees. 
She owned all of the trees and gathered all the nuts herself. When 
people went to her lodge she would give them a few pecans to eat, but 
would never allow them to take any away. The people were very fond 
of pecans and thej^ wanted some for their own use, but the old woman 
would not let them have any. One time the people were very hungry 
and the old woman had everything in her lodge filled with pecans, but 
she would give them onlj' a few when they went to see her and she 
made them eat them before going away. This made the people angry 
and they decided that something must be done. 

There was in the village an old man who had four little sons who 
were very troublesome and meddlesome. The people — thej' were the 
field Rats — thought that these four little boys would be the right ones 
to go over to the old woman's house some night to try to steal some 
of the nuts. They chose the four boys both because they were small 
and quiet and sly and because they were such a nuisance around the 
village that they would be no great loss to the people if the old woman 
killed them. The Rats were willing to go because thej' were always 
glad to be meddling. They chose one to slip over and make sure that 
the old woman was asleep. He went to her lodge and peeped in through 
a small crack and saw that she was still at work. He waited until she 
fini.shed her work and went to bed ; then when he heard her snore he 
ran back home to tell his brothers to come. When he went inside his 
father's lodge he saw a stranger sitting there. The stranger was Coyote. 
He had come to tell the Rats not to trouble about stealing pecans from 
the old woman, for he was going over the next day and kill her. Coyote 
was afraid to trust the Rats. He wanted to go himself, so he could get 
the most of the pecans. The next morning he went over to see the old 
woman and acted very friendly. The old woman gave him some pecans 
and he sat down and ate them all up. Then he asked her for some 
more, and as she turned around to get them he pulled out his stone knife 
and struck her on the head. She died, and ever since then the pecan 
trees have grown everj'where and belong to all of the people. 

*Told by Wing. 



THE COWARD, THE SON OF THE MOON. 53 



28. THE COWARD, THE SON OF THE MOON.* 

In the beginning, when the people first came out of the earth, a little 
boy was taken out with his grandparents, but his mother and father 
were left behind in the earth. The old people loved the child dearly 
and cared for him, but because they were old they were poor, and so 
the boy was often hungry. Sometimes other little boys took him to 
their lodges and fed him, and then the old people were happy; for 
they did not mind being hungry themselves, so long as their grandson 
had something to eat. He grew rapidly and soon became old enough 
to hunt game ; then the old people always had plenty to eat, for he 
was successful on the hunt. One time, when he came home from a 
long hunt, he found his grandmother sick, and in a few days she died. 
The boy grieved for his grandmother, but remained with his grand- 
father to comfort and provide food for him. One day the grandfather, 
who was an old man, dropped dead. Then the boy, left all alone, 
gave up to his grief and spent days and nights in mourning. He 
wandered far away into the timber to mourn, and in his grief and lone- 
liness he prayed that he might die. While he was praying one even- 
ing, just as the sun was going down, he heard some one calling him. 
He turned and saw a man coming, and when the man came near he 
opened out his arms to embrace the boy, and said : "I will be your 
father, and I will look upon you as my own son. One time you 
wished for me, and now I have come to claim j^ou as my own. I am 
the Moon, who keeps watch over everything in this world. Go back 
to your people now and some time I will come for j'ou. In the mean- 
time remember that I will always watch over you and give you power. ' ' 

The young man went back to his home and wept no more, for he did 
not feel so lonely and forsaken, now that he had a father. After a 
time a girl came to his lodge and asked to become his wife. He ac- 
cepted her and they lived together. One time while they were at dinner 
he said : " Some one is coming with news for the chief." The person 
was then several days' journey from the village, and so his wife saw 
that her husband had great power. One time he was told by a mother 
to watch her child while she went out to get water. She told him that 
the child was a.sleep, and if it woke up to give it a buffalo bone to 
suck. When the mother was gone he woke the child up and cut its 
leg off. When the mother returned she saw her child lying dead upon 
the blankets, and saw the young man sitting beside it playing with its 

Told by Caddo George. 



54 TRADITIONS OK THE CADDO. 

leg. She ran and called the people and they came and killed the young 
man. Soon after they heard that he was living with another family 
not far away. The people went to the place where they had buried 
him and saw that he had come out of the grave. Then they went to 
the family with whom it was reported he was living, and they found 
him there alive and looking just the same as before they had killed 
him. 

One time the tribe went on the war-path and fought another tribe. 
All the men went except this man. The chief asked him why he did 
not go with the others to fight the enemy and kill a man instead of a 
little child. Coward, for so the people called him, said that his father 
had not told him to have trouble with people. The chief asked him who 
his father was, but he did not answer. He arose, took up a war club, 
and went out to fight. The enemy shot many arrows at him, but soon 
they saw that the arrows flew off from him, and they knew that he was 
wonderful and could not be killed. The^- turned to run, and as they ran 
he killed many with his war club. The next day he became sick and 
began to shake all over. Finally he vomited all the arrow heads that 
had pierced his body, then he bathed himself and was well. After that 
the people knew that he had some great power. Many years after he 
told his people that he was going away, and that evening when the 
Moon came up he pointed to it and said: "There is my father." 
Then he arose from the earth and went up to the Moon. 

29. THE FIRST WAR PARTY.* 

When the people came into the world there were so many that they 
had to be divided into groups, and each group was given a different 
name, although they all belonged to the same tribe. After a time the 
tribes began to fight with each other, and the Caddo fought the Kiowa 
and Comanche. The Caddo gathered one time in council and thephief 
told the errand-man to cry out for all the young men to come to the 
council. The young men came and the chief a.sked all of those who 
wanted to fight the other tribes to sit in a circle. After the circle was 
formed the chief brought the largest buffalo hide that he had and laid 
it upon the ground in the center of the circle. Then he gave each man 
a stick and they all beat the buffalo hide with the sticks and sang a war 
song. They began singing at sunset and continued until Morning Star 
drove the other stars away. 

In the meantime the chief and his assistants went ahead to choose a 
good place with water near by to make a camp. At dawn all the men 

♦Told by Wing. 



THE FIRST WAR PARTY. 55 

arose and marched out to the place, continuing their war song as they 
went. They were not allowed to go back to their homes, but had to 
march all together out of the village. They waited until noon at the 
place the chief had chosen, so that others who decided late to join the 
party would have time to catch up with them. They all stopped their 
songs and ate, and, while they were eating, the chief made the following 
speech : 

" I want to make certain rules for }'ou, my men, for if you are to 
become great warriors you must learn to obej'. First, I want all to 
move forward in one bodj' and want none to stop by the way. I will 
appoint two men who shall be water-carriers, and I want each man to 
drink only when water is brought by the water-carriers, and not to stop 
and drink at every spring or stream. A drink of water three times a 
day is enough for each man. We will also eat three times a da3\ March 
on, now, and remember to keep in one body, that we may overcome 
the enemj'." 

They marched by day and made camp bj' night. The chief always 
camped about a hundred yards in advance of the others, facing the 
enemy's country-. When the men were near the enemy's country the 
chief appointed four men to go on ahead as spies and to come back at 
night and report. They went out in all directions, but before going 
they arranged a meeting place, so that if any one saw the enemy he 
could go to that place, give the signal, and the other spies could join 
him and all race back to tell the leader that they had seen the enemy. 
When they reached camp they stood in line and waited for the water- 
carriers to give them a drink before they began to .speak. 

They went on until they found the enemy and fought them, but 
scalped only one, for that was enough to show that they had been vic- 
torious. When the battle was over the warriors were all left to do as 
they pleased. The chief sent word to their homes that they had de- 
feated the enemy and were bringing back a scalp. The people decked 
themselves in paint and feathers and went out to meet the returning 
war party. When the people met the party the chief told the man who 
had the scalp to put it on a pole, and then all the j'oung men raced for 
it, and the one who got it ran on until some one overtook him ; then 
that one took the scalp and ran on until some one overtook him, and 
so they raced home. The people at home were waiting for them, and 
when they arrived they all joined in a big war dance. 

So it was with the first war party, and so it has been with all war 
parties since that time. 



56 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

30. THE POWER OF THE CYCLONE.* 

A boy sat down on the banks of the river to rest after his morning 
bath, and as he sat there watching the sun come up and listening to 
the water and trees, a voice from some place spoke in his ear and said : 
" Boy, I have been watching you at your bath every morning. I 
know that your grandmother has sent you here every day in winter 
and in summer to plunge into the water, no matter how cold, that 
you might gain .strength and become a strong man, hardened to 
endure. I have come to give you that strength that you desire, and 
even more." 

The boy looked about him through the trees and in the water, but 
for a long time he saw nothing. After he had gazed into the water 
for a long time he saw slowly arising to the surface a man. The boy 
was not frightened, but sat still on the bank and waited. The man 
came close and spoke to him, saying : " Dive into the water four times, 
and as you dive always face the west." After the boy had dived four 
times and again sat on the bank, the unknown person said : "I am 
the power of the Cj'clone. Once I was so strong and powerful that I 
held all the Winds in my control, and all people feared me, but now I 
am growing old and my strength is going from me. For some time 
I have been looking over the world to find some one to take my place 
and to whom I could intrust my powers. As I was looking and almost 
despairing of finding a worthy young man, I found you. From that 
time I have been watching you, and now at last I am come to give my 
power to you. Swing your arms about." The young man began to 
swing his arms, and soon a big, black cloud rolled up in the north. It 
passed to the west, and then, as the boy threw his arms about faster, 
the %vind broke from the cloud and passed through the forest, tearing 
up trees by the roots and tossing the waters in fury as it went. At 
last the man cried in a loud voice that was barely heard above the roar 
of the winds, " Stand still ! " 

The boy dropped his arms at his .sides and stood breathless and pant- 
ing with the exertion. The man said : ' ' You have received my power. 
Take care that you never abuse it, and send the cyclone only in the 
spring, when it is necessary. I give you the name ' Path-of-the- 
Cycloue' to be yours, and people shall know you by that name." 
Then the man disappeared. Years after the people came to know the 
power the boy possessed when they saw him carried through the air to 
the sky on the breast of the cyclone. 

*Told by Wing. 



HOW THE CANNIBAL WAS DESTROYED. 57 

31. HOW THE CANNIBAL WAS DESTROYED.* 

In the beginning of this world there lived many kinds of fierce animals. 
Among these animals was one especially that was called by the people 
living in those times the cannibal. 

One time there were three men who went out hunting. They went a 
long way from home and kept on going farther and farther in search of 
game. One day they came to a country timbered with many large trees. 
They came to one of these trees and saw that something had been 
climbing on the tree, and near the base there was a large hole. The 
men thought that a bear must have made the hole, and that the bear 
was in the hole. They gathered dry leaves and grass and made it up 
into a small bundle, and they set the bundle on fire and tied it to the 
end of a long pole and thrust the burning bundle into the hole. They 
kept on dropping bundles into the hole until they thought it about time 
the bear should come out. One of the bundles which was put into the 
hole dropped out from the hole, and then they knew that the bear was 
coming out. Finally some strange animal came and peeped out from 
the hole, and it was not a bear, but a cannibal. 

As soon as thej- saw and knew what kind of animal it was, they ran. 
The smoke cleared away and the cannibal came down from the tree and 
smelled around until he scented the tracks of the men, and then he began 
to follow them. These men were on foot and the cannibal was very 
swift, and so it was not long until he overtook one of the men and killed 
him. Then the animal took the man back to the woods, to the large 
tree, and went back after the other two men. After running a long 
way he overtook the second man. He killed him and carried him back 
and placed him by the side of the first man. Then he returned for the 
third man. When the third man was almost overtaken, and was run- 
ning with all his might, he saw something flat on the ground in front 
of him, but he did not .stop. He saw that it was a mountain-lion, 
lying there watching and waiting for the approaching cannibal. The 
man ran on a way, then turned around and looked back to see what 
the mountain-lion would do. The cannibal did not see the mountain- 
lion lying there, and before he knew anything the mountain-lion 
jumped upon him and seized him by the throat. Finally the cannibal 
was overpowered and killed, and then the man started on for his home. 
When he got home he told his people what had happened to the other 
two men. When they all heard this they started down where he last 
saw the cannibal, and when they got to the place they found nothing 

*Told by Annie Wilson. 



58 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

but many white and black wolves, which had already eaten the body, and 
there was nothing left but the bones of the cannibal. The men went on 
to the tree where the cannibal had lived. The tree was not burning, 
and so the men began to cut the tree down, and when it fell they found 
two bodies. They took the bodies out from the tree and buried them 
a short distance away. 

32. THE YOUNG MEN AND THE CANNIBALS.* 

Ten boys lived with their grandmother. One day the oldest went 
out to hunt and did not return. The grandmother worried about him, 
and so the next day one of his brothers went to look for him. He did 
not return, and so the next brother went out to look for his brothers. 
He did not return and another went, and so on until the ninth boy 
went out, leaving his little brother at home with his grandmother. 
They waited long, but none of the brothers returned and no news came 
of them. They worried and grieved and became sadder each day, until 
at last the youngest boy declared that he was going to look for his 
brothers. His grandmother begged him not to go and leave her alone, 
for she felt that the same evil fate would befall him that had come to 
his brothers ; but the boy was determined and prepared to go. He 
went out and prayed for help and put an eagle feather in his hair just 
before starting, thinking that it might have some hidden power. The 
boy traveled far, and after a time he saw a tipi. He approached the 
tipi, and as he went near he heard some one laugh and .say : "Another 
one is coming. Cook some corn and we will soon have the meat." 
The boy understood the meaning of this, but he was so sad and weary 
that he thought he would as soon die as live, and so he went on to the 
tipi. An old man came out of the tipi and said to him : "Are you 
looking for your nine brothers? " " Yes," the boy answered. Then 
the man said : " I know where your brothers are and I will put you on 
the right path to find them, but first you must do some work for me. 
Lift that big log there and put it on the fire. I will give you four 
trials, and then if you can not do it you must lie down upon the log 
and let me lift it." 

The boy did not believe anything the man said, but thought he 
would try to lift the log and see if some power would not come to his 
aid in answer to his prayers. He tried four times, but could not move 
the log; then he lay down upon it. The old man was just about to 
spear him with the iron nose of the mask he wore, when some unseen 
power pulled the boy off the log, and the iron nose of the mask caught 

* Told by Wing. 



THE YOUNG MEN AND THE CANNIBALS. 59 

in the log and held the old man fast. A voice said to the boy : " Run 
to the tipi and take the pounder away from the woman who is pound- 
ing corn, bring it here, and beat the old man to death." The boy 
obeyed, and when the old man was dead, the voice said : " Gather up 
all of your brothers' bones. I will help you, for I know the bones of 
each boy, and put them in nine piles." A strange man, the possessor 
of the voice, appeared and helped the boy gather up the bones. When 
they had them all piled up the man said : " Put your robe over them, 
shoot an arrow up in the sky, then cry : ' Look out, brothers, the 
arrow will hit you ! ' " The boy obeyed, and as he cried " Look out, 
brothers, the arrow will hit you ! " his brothers jumped out from under 
the robe. The man then told them to burn the tipi with the man and 
his wife in it and to scatter the ashes. After they had done all that, 
the man said : " Return now to your grandmother. I am the Sun and 
I have helped you destroy the cannibals." Then he disappeared. The 
brothers all returned to their grandmother, who had almost grieved 
herself to death. They told their story, and the youngest boy told how 
the Sun had taken pity on him and helped him ; and from that time all 
the people knew that the Sun was their friend and always willing to 
help them in times of trouble. 

33. COYOTE AND THE SIX BROTHERS. 

An old woman lived alone with her seven sons. The}- were all good 
hunters and kept her busy preparing the game that they killed. One 
day the oldest son went out to hunt and did not return. After several 
days his dogs came back, but he did not come. The second son decided 
to go to search for his brother, and .so he took the dogs and started out. 
After several days the dogs came back, but the second son did not come. 
The third son decided to go after his missing brothers. Again the dogs 
returned alone, and the brothers did not come. The fourth, the fifth, 
and the sixth sons in turn went to search for their missing brothers, but 
each time the dogs came back alone. The youngest son wanted to go, 
but his mother could not give him up, for she feared that he, too, would 
go, never to return. One day, after the brothers had been gone a long 
time, the little boy saw a raccoon in a tree. He a.sked his mother if he 
could not take his bow and arrow and kill it. She said that he could, 
and gave him his bow and arrow. He chased the raccoon from one 
tree to another until it had led him far into the thick timber. Finally 
it ran down a hollow tree and he climbed the tree to get it out. While 
he was in the tree he heard some one speak, and, turning around, he 
saw a little old woman standing by the tree. ' ' Throw the raccoon 
down here, and I and the dogs will kill it," she said. He threw the 



60 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

raccoon down and the old woman killed it and one of the dogs. Then 
she said, "There is another raccoon in the tree." He pulled out 
another raccoon and threw it down. She killed it and another one of 
his dogs. He saw another raccoon in the tree and he pulled it out, and 
again she killed it and another dog. He continued to pull raccoons 
out of the tree until he had pulled six, and each time the old woman 
killed the raccoon and another dog. As the boy was about to pull the 
seventh raccoon out, it spoke to him and said: " Boy, when j-ou get me 
out, throw me just as far as you can. I will run away and the old 
woman will chase me. While she is chasing me, 3-011 must jump and 
run home as fast as possible. She has already killed all of your dogs, 
and she will kill you next. She is a witch, and is the one who has 
killed all of your brothers. You must run from her." The boy said 
that he would, and then he threw the raccoon just as far as he could. 
While the old woman was chasing it he jumped out of the tree and 
started to run home. The old woman killed the raccoon, then returned 
to the tree, and when she found the boy gone she was angry, and 
started after him as fast as she could run, but he was too far ahead, 
and she could not catch him. 

When the boy reached home he told his mother all that had happened. 
That night he had a strange dream, in which he dreamed that he met 
Coyote, and Coyote told him that his brothers were not dead, but were 
with some bad people who made them work so hard that they would 
soon die if they did not get away, and Coyote promised to help him 
rescue his brothers. The next morning he told his mother his dream, 
and she told him that his dream would probably come true. That very 
afternoon the boy went out to hunt, and while he was walking along 
he met a man, and the man told him the same thing that the man in 
the dream had told him. The boy returned to his home and the man 
went on through the timber until he met Flying Squirrel. He was one 
of the bad people's slaves and had to work for them. Coyote, for he 
was the man, began to talk to Squirrel and asked him about the bad 
people. Squirrel told him that the bad people made slaves of all of the 
people that they could catch alive, and that they ate all that they killed. 
Coyote asked about the six brothers, and Squirrel told Coyote that they 
were slaves like himself and could not get away, but had to work. 
Coyote said that he would like to help them, and that he thought he 
could, for he was very cunning and had a good deal of power. Squirrel 
told Coyote if he could only find some way to kill the wicked chief 
that there would be no more trouble. Coyote said that he thought he 
could plan to kill him if he could only get to him, but that he lived 
across the river and had no way of getting across. Flying Squirrel 



COYOTB AND THE SIX BROTHERS. 6r 

said that he would take him across if he thought he could hold on to 
his tail as he flew. Coyote said that he could, and so they started. 
When they were almost to the other bank Coyote let go Squirrel's tail 
and fell into the water. He hid in the tall grass until he thought of a 
plan. When he had made up his mind what he was going to do, he 
turned into a nice, new corn mill, and floated out on the water where 
he would be in plain sight. Soon a woman came down to the river to 
get some water. She saw the mill and tried to get it. but could not. 
She ran back and told the chief about the nice, new mill, and asked 
him to get it for her. He told her that he was afraid it was Coyote, 
or some one trying to play a trick on them, but the woman said that it 
could not be anything but a fine corn mill aud that she wanted it. The 
chief sent some one to get it, and then all of the women came to pound 
their corn in the new mill. They used it for several days, and all 
thought it was the best mill they had ever had. One day some one 
put some fine sweet corn in it, and after she had ground a little while 
all of her corn %vas gone. She ran to the chief and told him. He said 
that the corn mill was Coyote, as he had feared, and he told the people 
to bring it to him. They brought it, and he placed it on the big log 
where he always speared people with his long, spiked nose. He raised 
his head high, then dropped it, and his nose stuck in the log so that he 
could not get loose. The corn mill had rolled off the log and turned 
into Coyote. He grabbed the chief by the head and held him there 
while he called all the slaves to come and kill him. With the others 
came the six brothers. After they had killed the chief. Coyote told 
all that they were free, and to go to their homes. The six brothers 
returned to their home, and ever after that whenever they killed any 
game they always left some for Coyote. 

34. THE DEATH OF THE CANNIBALS.* 

There was a village called Tall-Timber-on-Top-of-Hill , and the people 
decided to move from that village to another. Thej' were all ready to 
go when a baby was born to a j^oung woman who.se husband had died. 
The woman could not make the long journey with the new baby, and 
the people were unwilling to wait for her, so they decided to go on aud 
leave her to follow when she was strong enough to carry the child. 
The woman remained alone in the deserted village for many daj^s. She 
was afraid to be there alone, and counted the daj'S until she could start 
to the new ^-illage. One night as she sat with onh' her child in the 
grass lodge she heard some one outside, and a strange voice begged 
admission. She was frightened, but let the man in, and said: "Are 

♦Told by Shorter. 



62 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

you from my people?" " No," said he, "though I often go around 
their village at night. Do not be frightened, and I will tell you who 
I am. People call me Sjxjtted-Wolf. I have come here to see you and 
yoi:r child and to beg you not to start too soon on j^our journey, for 
there are many dangerous animals on the way." The woman replied : 
" I know, but I want to go to my j>eople. It is lonelj' here, and I am 
afraid." Spotted-Wolf said : " I am afraid something will happen to 
you if you go now. Take this tobacco, and if you meet danger and need 
help throw some of it to the four directions and call to me, and I will 
come and help you. ' ' The woman took the tobacco ; then Spotted- Wolf 
arose and went to his home. 

After a few days the woman decided to start on her journey. She 
put her child on her back and started. After she had traveled three 
days .she saw in her way a strange-looking being. She went on, and 
as she came nearer she was not certain whether it was a wild animal or 
a person ; but in a moment it dropped on the ground and rolled over 
twice, and then she saw that it was a wild animal. Again she looked 
and saw that it had taken the form of a person. Then she knew that it 
was a cannibal, for those creatures first appear as human beings ; then 
they turn into wild animals and eat people. She was frightened so 
that she could not go on, for she thought that she and her child would 
be eaten by the cannibal. She thought of Spotted- Wolf and took .some 
tobacco out of her bag and threw it to the .south, the east, the west, 
and the north ; and as she threw it she prayed that Spotted- Wolf would 
come and help her. Soon she heard the howl of a wolf in the south, 
then another in the east, another in the west, and another in the north. 
The cannibal stopped growling at her and looked frightened. In a 
moment big spotted wolves were coming from the four directions. They 
killed the cannibal, and the wolf from the south conducted the woman 
and her child in safety to the village of her people. 

There is another kind of cannibal, though not so dangerous as the 
one who first appears as a human being, then turns to an animal. 
These cannibals live as human beings and eat people only after they 
are dead. Whenever they hear of any one who is sick and about to 
die they pretend to be sick, too, and when they hear that the sick 
person is dead, they pretend to die, too, and are buried ; but in the 
night they jump out of their graves and steal the dead person before 
the .spirits can take him away. 

One time there was an old medicine-man and he had noticed how 
certain people got sick whenever they heard of any one else being sick, 
and how they died when the sick person died, and then how they always 
came to life again. He watched one of these beings for a long time ; 



THE DEATH OF THE CANNIBALS. 63 

then he pretended to be verj' sick aud caused it to be rumored about 
that he was about to die. Soon he heard that the person he had been 
watching was sick. Then the medicine-man pretended that he was 
dead, but before he pretended to die he told his sons to put a bow and 
some arrows in his gra\-e, and told them not to put much earth over 
him when they buried him. As soon as the person heard that the 
medicine-man was dead, he pretended to die also, and was buried. 
That night he jumped out of his grave and went to get the medicine- 
man. The medicine-man heard him coming, and so he jumped out of 
his grave aud shot an arrow through the cannibal and killed him, so 
that he never came back to life again. Then the medicine-man told 
the people what he had done, and ever since that bows and arrows 
are always put in the graves with the dead, that they may shoot the 
cannibal. 

35. THE MAN WHO MADE ARROWS FOR GHOST.' 

Two men arose and went out to hunt before daybreak, and they were 
a long way from their village when the sun came up. They hunted 
all day and far into the evening, but did not find anything. They 
decided to stay in the timber and sleep that night, so they might hunt 
next day, for they hated to go home empty-handed. They threw them- 
selves down on a soft, grassy place and slept soundly, for they were 
weary. After they had been asleep for a long time both awoke with 
a start and listened. Soon the}- heard a voice whooping, the same that 
had awakened them. One of the men was so frightened that he jumped 
up and ran for home through the dark. The other man was brave and 
was ashamed to run, for he had not run from anything in all his life. 
He arose and stood his ground. Soon a dead person stood before him. 
He asked the man if he could help him get into Spirit Land. He 
said : "I have been trying for a long time, but can not get any farther, 
for my bowstring has a knot in it. Can't you give me a bowstring and 
make me two new arrows ? ' ' The man said that he would, and so he 
sat down to make the arrows. Then he put a new string on the dead 
person's bow. The dead person shot the arrows and went up in the 
air with them. Before going he told the man that he would whoop 
when he was high up in the air, to let him know that the arrows had 
carried him up all right, and he wanted the man to whoop back, to let 
him know that he had heard him. The man listenedand soon he heard 
a whoop. He answered it, and then he heard nothing more, so he 
knew that the man had entered Spirit Land. The next day he returned 
to his people and told them the story, and ever since that time bows 

* Told by Wing. 



64 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

and arrows are always made and buried with the dead, so that they 
can go to Spirit Laud at once and not have to wander about. But no 
one ever makes bows and arrows at night, because they are afraid some 
of the ghosts might come for them and cause a death in the family, for 
whenever a ghost appears it is a sign of death. 

36. THE LAZY BOYS WHO BECAME THE PLEIADES.* 

Long, long ago, in the beginning of this world, there lived an old 
woman with seven children, who were all boys. The boys were full of 
hfe and fun and they would go away from the others and play all the 
day long, and would not work, nor take time to eat but twice a day — 
morning and evening. When they came home in the evening their 
mother would .scold them, and one evening when they came home late 
for their supper their mother would not let them have anything to eat. 
The boys were very angry and went back to their play and determined 
on the morrow to go away where they would never trouble her any 
more. The next morning early they went down to their playground 
before breakfast and began to go round and round the house, praying to 
the spirits to help them. At last their mother noticed and heard what 
they were saying, and as she watched them she noticed that their feet 
were off the earth, and then she knew that something was wrong, and 
she ran out trying to get her children, but it was too late. With every 
round they rose higher and higher in the air, and were soon above the 
roof of the house. They circled higher and higher until they went up 
to the sky, where we can see them now as the Seven Stars. These 
seven boys who were taken to the sky were very indolent, and when 
the work time came they would always slip off and play. That is the 
reason that during the winter months the Seven Stars can be seen ; but 
at the beginning of the spring months, at the work time, the Seven 
Stars are gone. 

37. THE LOST TIMBER SPIRlTS.t 

When the world was new the old man, Coyote, decided that if a man, 
woman, or child died thej' should return to the earth again after ten days. 
Finally Coyote made another rule, and that was that when anybody 
died and was buried within six days he should stay under the ground, 
but if not buried by the .seventh day he might escape. If caught before 
he succeeded in getting away he was to be brought back home. When 
the person was caught, a fire was kindled all around him ; but finally 
he threw off the fire from him, and then was taken back to his home, 

* Told by Wing. t Told by Short-Man. 



THE LOST TIMBER SPIRITS. 65 

where he was kept for six days and nights. At the end of the sixth 
day some old woman washed him, and then they let him go, and he 
became a real person again. 

When a person dies they dig a hole in the ground about four or five 
feet long and about three or four feet wide — according to the size of 
the person — and the body is laid head toward the west and feet toward 
the east. One of the family builds a fire at the feet of the person, and 
this fire should be kept up for six days and nights. Very often the 
person forgets to keep up the fire and lets it go out before the end of 
the sixth day, and when this happens they find that the grave is open 
and tracks are seen leading toward the east. They follow the tracks 
sometimes and overtake the dead person, but generally he gets away 
from them when they do overtake him. They build the fire all around 
the dead person; the wood for that purpose is cedar and mulberry trees, 
and the sparks from the fire get on the person. At first the dead person 
pays no attention, but the people keep on building up the fire until the 
dead person begins to look arouud and tries to escape the sparks from 
the fire. Then they know the dead person is coming to life again, for 
he is beginning to feel, and then they take hold of him and bring him 
back home, where he is kept for six days and nights. At the sixth 
day, in the earlj' evening, some one of the family would bathe him, 
and then he would live again. When the dead person is not caught he 
becomes something like a very large monkey, and lives in the thickets 
and timber. Whenever the people meet a dead person he talks to them, 
and so the people think that dead people are crazj'^ people. They do 
not know where their homes are or who their relatives are, and so they 
go off aud stay in the woods or among the wild animals. That is the 
reason that large monke3's are called "the last people in the thickets." 
When any one or two people go out to hunt in the thickets or woods 
they always meet these monkeys, and monkeys always ask for a wrest- 
ling match. They are very strong little men, and if the people do not 
pay any attention to them, they bother them all night long. These 
creatures are still living, but they do not talk as they did when the 
world was new. 

38. THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE.* 

One time two boys who were close friends went out hunting. They 
met a large snake, aud one of the boys killed it and cooked it. The 
other boy begged him not to eat it, but to eat the buffalo meat that he 
had prepared ; but the boy would not listen to him and ate the snake 
meat. That was in the evening. The next morning the boy who had 

*Told by Wing. 



66 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

eaten the suake meat began to turn into a snake. After another day 
and night he had completely turned into a snake. He told his friend 
to go to the mountain and find a hole for him to live in. The friend 
found a hole and carried the snake to it. The snake told him to go to 
their village and tell his people what had happened to him, and to tell 
them that whenever they went to hunt to .stop and offer presents to him 
and he would help them in the hunt. The snake lived there for many 
years, until the lightning killed him. 

39. THE WOMAN WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE.* 

A long time ago there lived a man and his wife and a dog. At that 
time the animals talked like human beings, and so the dog talked to the 
man and woman. Everj^ day the man went out to hunt, and as soon as 
he was gone his wife always went away and never returned until even- 
ing, just before her husband came. He did not know that she left home 
in his absence until one time his dog said : " I believe you ought to know 
that your wife goes away and stays all the time that you are gone." 
The man told his dog to follow her the next time .she went away. 
Early the next morning the man started out hunting and the woman 
left home as usual. The dog followed her, but stayed a good distance 
behind, so that .she did not know that he had followed her. She went 
to the large timber and stopped at one of the large trees and .stood there 
looking up, and then after .she had stood there for some time she whis- 
tled once, and then again and again. The third time she whistled the 
dog saw something moving out from a large hole in the tree, and finally 
the dog saw that it was a big snake. The snake came down to the 
ground and went .straight to the woman, and began crawling up on her 
and coiling round and round her body. Finally the snake began to 
move away from her and crept back to the hole in the tree. That night 
the dog told the man what he had seen. The next day the man made 
many arrows and told his w-ife that he and the dog were going out fish- 
ing. Instead of .going down to fish they went to the place where the 
snake was, and when they were there the man went near to the tree and 
whistled three times. The snake began to creep out, and when it had 
reached the ground the man .shot it and killed it, and then cut it up in 
very .small pieces, so that the pieces looked like pieces of fish. They 
went down to the river and began to fish, and they caught a few small 
fish and took them home. When they arrived at their home the man 
told his wife that he was going to cook the fish himself, and told her to 
go in the grass house until the dinner was brought to her. She went, 

*Tol(l by Annie Wilson. 



THE WOMAN WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE. 67 

and the man began to cook the fish and the snake flesh. When he was 
through he took the snake flesh to his wife for her dinner. He and the 
dog ate the fish. He sent the dog into the grass house to see what his 
wife was doing, and the dog saw that she was eating the snake. He 
was sent in the second time, and he saw that she was .scratching herself 
all over her body. Every place she scratched herself the skin would turn 
the color of the snake skin, until she finally turned into a snake. She 
crept away from the grass lodge and went to find the snake, for she did 
not know that he was dead. Some time after, the man went out hunt- 
ing and he came to a large tree. He heard something making a noise 
inside of the tree and finally saw a large snake come out from the tree. 
He knew that it was his wife, but he passed on. 

40. HOW OWL FOOLED THE GIRLS WHO WANTED TO MARRY THE 
CHIEF.* 

One time there lived an old man and woman who had two beautiful 
twin daughters. These girls heard of a chief who lived in another vil- 
lage, and rumors of his great wealth and his fame as a great chief had 
traveled far. The girls asked their parents if they might not go to the 
chief and off'er themselves in marriage. Their parents consented, and 
so the girls started to the chief's village. They did not know just 
where the v-illage was, but they started in the direction that they thought 
it was, and decided to ask the first person the>' met to direct them. 
They traveled along for a time and then met a man with a turkey in 
his hand coming down the road. Thej" stopped him and began to talk 
to him. ' ' We want to marr5' this famous chief, for we hear that he is 
good and very wealthy, but we do not know him. We have never seen 
him, we have not even been to his village, and perhaps we would not 
know him if we should see him." The man grinned to himself and 
said : "I am the chief and I live just a little way from here ; I have 
been away attending a council. Well, I must sa}- that I am willing, 
but wait here while I run on home and tell my grandmother." 

The girls waited. They thought it strange that so great a chief 
should have to tell his grandmother, but they said nothing. The man, 
who was no other than Owl, ran on to his home, and calling his grand- 
mother, .said : ' ' Clean up the lodge and put it in order. I am going to 
bring home two girls whom I am playing a joke on. They think I am 
the rich chief and want to marry me." After they had cleaned the 
lodge, for it was very disorderly. Owl said : "I am going to put this 
turkey which I have brought home over my bed ; when you get up in 
the morning ask me which turkey you shall cook and pretend to point 

* Told by Wing. 



68 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

to one, and I will say, ' No, take this.' Then the girls will think that 
we have many turkeys and many good things to eat." 

Owl went back for the girls and brought them to his grandmother's 
lodge. They were pleased, for everything looked neat and nice, and 
so they married Owl. Every day Owl came in with a turkey, and he 
always pretended to have been out hunting. Really he had been at 
the council, and the chief gave him the turkey for allowing him to sit 
on his back. At all the councils the chief alwaj's .sat on Owl's back, 
and so he gave Owl a turkey ever>' time to repay him for his trouble 
and the pain of holding him so long. After many moons the twins 
grew weary of nothing but turke5' and they began to suspect something, 
so one day they followed Owl when he went away. They followed 
and saw him go to a large gra.ss lodge. They peeped through an 
opening, and there they saw Owl sitting in the middle of the lodge with 
the chief sitting on his head. They gave a scream. Owl recognized 
their voices and jumped up, throwing the chief off his head, and ran 
home. He gave his grandmother a terrible scolding for letting the 
girls follow him and find him out. The girls felt so ashamed when 
they discovered how they had been fooled, that they slipped off to their 
home and told their father and mother their experience. 

Owl sat in his lonely lodge and thought for a long time about the 
twin sisters, and the longer he thought the more angry he became, 
because he had been fooled at his own joke. Finally, he .said to his 
grandmother : " We must kill the people, and in order to do that we 
must gather all the water, from the smallest to the largest rivers and 
the springs and the lakes. We will have to dig a big hole here, and 
when we finish the hole we will begin to dam the waters out from all 
the rivers, springs, and lakes." They worked long and hard, and the 
people did not notice that the creeks, lakes, and springs were getting 
low until they were dry. 

The water was gone and the people were dying of thirst, while Owl 
splashed and swam about in the water in the big hole where he had all 
the waters of the earth. Every one went out to search for water, and 
Crow, who was snow white then, went with the others. He came to a 
field where the grass was all dried and withered for want of water, and 
big gra.sshoppers were jumping about in the grass. Crow ran after them 
and made such a loud noise in trying to catch them that all the people 
heard. They thought that he had found water, and so they ran in great 
haste. When they found that Crow had not found water they were all 
disappointed and angry at him for fooling them. Coyote jumped on 
Crow and rolled him about in the black earth until he was black, and 
ever since that time the crow has always been black as night. After that 



HOW OWL FOOLED GIRLS WHO WANTED TO MARRY CHIEF. 69 

Coyote made a rule that if any one made a loud noise and aroused the 
people's expectations he must either lead them to water or take a hard 
whipping. Turtle was traveling along one day searching for water, as 
they all were. He went down to the river bed, where the water had 
been, and he fell into a large crack in the dried mud. He began to 
halloo for help. The people heard him and all ran down to the river bed, 
for they thought surely he had found water ; but when they found he 
was only calling for help, Coyote took him out of the crack and gave 
him a hard whipping. He whipped him so hard that he cracked his 
shell, and to this day turtles bear the markings of the cracks on their 
shells. 

One time some one was going along looking for water, when he heard 
a big splashing noise, and he knew that it was the sound of water. He 
went until he came to the hole where Owl sat playing in the water. 
He went back and told the people. They gathered in council to decide 
how they could get the water from Owl. They were about to give up 
when Flea said that he would go to Owl's lodge and try to free the 
water. He went, and as he entered the lodge Owl's grandmother was 
about to take a bath. She had a big jar full of water sitting in front of 
her. Flea slipped up to her, crawled up her leg, and bit her ; she gave 
a big kick and upset the jar. When Owl saw the water running in 
every direction he opened his eyes wide in astonishment, and they have 
always looked that way ever since. All the people felt very grateful to 
Flea, and Coyote put him on his back that he might have a good warm 
home. 

41. THE POOR HUNTER AND THE ALLIGATOR POWER.* 

One time the hunters went out on a two months' hunt. They took 
their wives with them. After they had gone a long distance from home 
they camped. Among these himters was a poor man and his wife who 
were hungry and starving, while every one else was killing plenty of 
game and having an abundance to eat. The poor man would go out 
to hunt from early in the morning till sundown and come home with 
nothing to eat. He continued to hunt day after day, expecting to find 
deer or some game, but always returned without anything. The 
people would not give him anything to eat and would make fun of the 
unfortunate man because he could not kill anything. One morning 
he arose early and started out and hunted all morning. About noon 
he heard some one calling him, and the person was a long distance 
away. He started to see who it was and what was the matter with 

* Told by White-Bread. 



70 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

him, and when he got there he asked the person why he called. 
" Well," .said the person, " I want to find out where there is water." 
The hunter told him there was some water a short distance from where 
they were. He did not know who the man was, for there was no such 
person among his people. The unknown person asked the man to 
carry him to the water, so the hunter told him to get on his back and 
he would carry him. When they reached the water the unknown man 
told the hunter to take off his clothes, and so he did, and then the 
unknown man told him to get on his back, .saying : " It is now my 
time to carrj- you on my back. Shut your eyes and do not open them 
until I saj- so." The man obeyed, and when the unknown person told 
him to open his eyes he did not know where he was. Then the unknown 
person told him that he wanted him to come and see what he had. The 
hunter looked and saw the heads of all kinds of animals. " Now," 
said the unknown person, " there is what I have killed, and I will tell 
you why I brought you here. I am going to give you some of my 
powers that you may kill game as I do. Point out the heads of the 
animals that you want to kill." The man pointed to the largest deer 
head, bear head, etc. "And now," said the unknown person, "you 
must not tell any one how and where you obtained j'our powers. All 
people call me Alligator, and I will give you these powers as long as 
you are able to hunt." Alligator then told him to shut his eyes, and 
when he told him to open them he saw that he was upon dry land once 
more. Alligator told him to go hunting, and so after he put on his 
clothes he started out to hunt. 

He did not go very far until he saw four big deer coming toward 
him and he killed every one of them. He dressed them carefully and 
then left them while he went to his camp. When he reached his camp 
he found his wife there, but nothing to eat. He went out and led up 
two of his horses and asked his wife to go with him. They arrived 
at the place and found the four deer. The man put two of the deer 
on one horse's back and two on the other one, and they started back 
to their camp. As they came into camp with their horses loaded with 
meat, everybody at the camp saw them and wondered, for they did not 
think the man could ever kill a deer. After that time he never failed 
to bring back much meat when out hunting. When the people started 
back to their homes they discovered that this man, whom the people 
had always made fun of, had been the most successful of all the hunters. 
He had killed the most deer, and besides he had killed the largest deer 
that was ever seen by the people, and he had killed the most bears 
and the most of every other kind of game. 



THE POOR HUNTER AND THE ALLIGATOR POWER. 7 1 

The people named him Deer-Head, because of his braveness in killing 
big deer. Deer- Head lived with the people many years and was well 
known among his tribe, but one time he disappeared. It was but a short 
time until the people noticed that he was missing, and they wondered 
what had become of him. 

Deer- Head had only one younger brother, and when the people would 
go and ask Deer- Head's wife where he was she could not tell, for she 
did not know where he was or what had become of him. Finally one 
of the men went where Deer- Head's little brother was, and he asked 
him if he knew where his big, brave brother was, and he replied that 
his brother had gone home ; that some one came after him during the 
night and had taken him awa}' that same night. Then they asked him 
if he knew which directiou they took, and he said that he did not know 
where he went, but that he said he was going home. 

While out hunting a long time after this one of the men found a 
large deer and the deer did not try to get away from him. When he 
came near he shot the deer, but the deer kept on walking very slowly 
and the man followed until the deer finally went over the hill where 
the man could not see him, and then he heard some one calling him to 
come on, and it was the deer that was talking. The man did not keep 
on, but turned and started back home. When he got home he told the 
whole story of the deer, and then the people thought the storj- of the 
deer was true, and that Deer-Head had changed into a deer. 

42. THE BOY WHO MARRIED A MOUNTAIN-LION.* 

A little boy often told his parents that he was a red mountain-lion. 
No one believed him, but they called him Red-Mountaiu-Lion. When 
he grew to manhood he was a successful and famous hunter. He went 
ofiF alone for days at a time and always brought back much game. One 
time it was noticed that he acted queerly when he returned from the 
hunt, and so the next time he went his brother followed him. He 
tracked him through the timber up the rocky side of a mountain. 
He heard voices among the rocks, but could not see any one. He 
climbed on until he saw just above him a cave in the side of a steep 
wall. He looked in and saw his brother in there with a female moun- 
tain-lion. He went home and told what he had seen. After a few 
days Red-Mountaiu-Lion came home and acted stranger than ever. 
One time he heard some men talking about going to the cave and killing 
a mountain-lion that some of them had seen there. The man started out 
at once and alone to hunt, and he went straight toward the cave. 

» Told by Wing. 



72 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

The men started out to hunt the next day, and when they came to 
the cave they saw the foot-prints of a man and a mouutain-Hon leading 
away from it. They tracked them down the mountain and up another, 
and then they gave up and returned to their homes. The man did not 
return to his people, but raanj' years afterward he was captured by a 
hunting party and carried to his home. He decided to stay at his home 
then. One autumn he and his brother decided to form a war party. 
The brother was to be the leader, and so he went off to get some power 
before starting. He wandered about alone until he found a rattlesnake 
skin and a red mountain-lion's tail. He took them and then prayed 
to the rattlesnake and red mountain-lion for their powers. Then he 
returned home and hid the skin and mountain-lion tail, for he did not 
want his brother to know what he had. For some reason or another 
the war expedition was given up. Then the man should have thrown 
away the skin and tail, for the animals always want their gifts returned 
if they are not used for the purpose they have given them. If they 
are not used or returned something always happens to the man who has 
received them or to some member of his family. 

A long time after the war party had been given up Red-Mountain- 
Lion awoke one morning and heard a turkej- cackling. He slipped out 
to catch the turkey, and while he was slipping upon the turkey he 
heard a rattlesnake by the side of him. He moved away and heard 
another. Again he jumped aside and heard still another. 

The woman prepared the morning meal and waited a long time for 
Red-Mountaiu-Liou to return ; then his brother was sent to look for him. 
His brother found him unconscious and called some men to help carry 
him to the lodge. Red-Mountain-Lion was scalped, but the only tracks 
that could be found were those of a mountain-lion, and they were only 
around his head, and did not come from or lead to anj' place. They 
sent for the medicine-man. He came and after he had examined Red- 
Mountain-Lion he asked his brother if he had not planned a war expe- 
dition and prayed for power and received gifts from the animals. The 
brother admitted that he had. The medicine-man told him to return 
the gifts to the woods where he had found them, and told him that his 
brother should have known better than to have kept them. The man 
obej'ed, and then they took Red-Mountain-Lion to the creek and bathed 
him, and he recovered, but he was always foolish. He lived to be an 
old man, but some one had to kill him in his old age, because he became 
more foolish and did many evil things. 



BUFFALO WOMAN. 73 



43. BUFFALO WOMAN.* 

In a village there lived a cannibal at that time and the people called 
him Snow-Bird-with- White-Wings. He had a handsome son, who 
would not marry any of his own tribe. The father named his son 
Braveness becau.se he was very brave in hunting. Whenever he went 
out to hunt he brought home many kinds of game that he had killed. 
Many of the young girls tried to win him as a husband, but Braveness 
would pay no attention to any of them. One night he decided to go 
hunting the next day. Early the next morning he started out toward 
the west. While he was going along looking and watching for wild 
animals he saw some one sitting ahead of him under a small elm tree. 
He approached the person and saw that it was a woman. She called 
him to come where she was, and he obeyed and saw that she was very 
beautiful and very young. She told him that she knew he was coming 
there and so she had come to meet him. He listened eagerly to hear 
what she had to say. She asked him if she could stay with him, and 
if he would take her to his home and let her become his wife. He 
told her that he would take her to his home, but that she must ask his 
parents if she could stay with him. They started for his home at once, 
and when thej^ arrived the girl asked the old people to let her become 
the young man's wife, and they consented. After that the young man 
had some one to love and they lived happily for a long time ; but one 
time while they were alone she asked him if he would do whatever she 
said, and he finally said that he would. She asked him to go with her 
to her home and told him that they would return again some day. 

A few days after, they started to her home and she led the way. After 
they had gone a long way they came to high hills, and all at once she 
stopped and turned around and looked at her husband and said : ' ' You 
have promised me that you will do anything that I say. " " Yes, ' ' said 
he. "Well," said she, " my home is on the other side of this large 
hill which is before us. I will tell you when we get to my mother. I 
know there will be manj' people coming there to see who you are, and 
they will bother you and try to get you angry, but do not get angry at 
any of them. The young men will try to kill you in some way. Listen 
to what I am about to tell you. I was just like you when I met you. 
I knew you, but you did not know me. I was the one who made you 
come there to find me. I have said that some of the young men will 
try to get you angry, and when they get you angry at them one of 
them will jump on you, and when they see that you are going to try to 

* Told by White-Bread. 



74 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

fight they will all get after you and will not let you go until they have 
killed you. They are jealous of j'ou. The reason is that I have re- 
fu.sed many of them when they have asked me. I have told you what 
to do when we get there, and now I want you to lay down on the 
ground and roll over twice." The man did, and when he arose he had 
changed into a Buffalo. The woman sat there watching him for a 
moment ; then she did the same thing and became a Buffalo. They 
started on climbing the high hill, and when they reached the top of the 
hill the Buffalo man looked down toward the west. He saw thousands 
and thousands of Buffalo. Then the woman told him that they were 
her people. When the herd saw these two coming they began to move 
to one certain place, as though to wait there and see who was coming. 
The woman kept on leading Braveness. He followed her until she came 
to an old Buffalo cow and then they stopped, and ■Braveness knew that 
she was the mother of his beautiful wife. Tiiey staj-ed there for a 
long time. Every now and then four or five of the young Buffalo 
would come around and bother Braveness, and so they decided to go 
back again to Braveness' home. On the way they stopped at the place 
where they had turned themselves into Buffalo. The Buffalo woman 
told him to do the same thing that he had done before, and so he rolled 
over twice and became as he was before, and then she did the same. 
While they were going she told him not to mention the transformation 
or her people to any one. When they reached home his father, Snow- 
Bird- with- White- Wings, asked him where he had been, and he told his 
father that he had been hunting and then had gone down to his wife's 
home, and his father did not ask him any more questions. 

The}' stayed at home about one year, and then they made up their 
minds to go again aud see the woman's mother. After they had been 
living with the Buffalo a long time his wife told him that the old people 
were talking about killing him ; that they were going to have a foot 
race and that they intended that he should run in this foot race. When 
he heard all this he was worried and did not know what to do. That 
night he could not sleep, aud he went out to take a long walk. He 
went a long way and walked very slowly. He heard some one calling, 
but could not see the person, for it was a very dark night. The unknown 
person said to him : ' ' You are very young, but you must remember you 
can not beat those Buffalo running without my help, and I know what 
they are going to do with you when the race is over. If they beat you 
running they are going to kill you, aud so I am going to help you to 
win. If I do it there are others who will also help you. If you win 
the race they will let you have this woman all to your.self and will not 
bother you any more." Then the unknown person told Braveness to 



BUFFALO WOMAN. 75 

hold out his hand, and when he did this the unknown person placed a 
small medicine root in it and said : "At the start you will leave them 
a long way behind, but finally some one of them will catch up with 
you, but he will not stay with you long. Remember, whenever he 
comes up with 5"ou, to throw this medicine down behind you and you 
will leave him again a long way behind. Then some one else will 
catch up with you again, and here is another medicine to throw behind 
you when the second man overtakes you. This medicine is mud, and 
you must throw it down when they come too close to you. Soon after 
you have thrown the mud you will be near the stopping place ; there 
I will meet you." 

The next day was the day of the race. At about sunrise Braveness 
saw the Buffalo coming in from all directions to see the race. While he 
stood watching them, an old Buffalo came and told him that the young 
Buffalo would like to have him run in a foot race with them. He went 
with the old man to the place where the runners started. When the 
j'oung Buffalo saw him coming they all made fun of him. When he 
joined them they lined up for the race. Braveness placed himself in their 
midst and they started. Braveness left the Buffalo a long way behind 
at the start, and they had to run long and hard before they could come 
near him. When he saw them gaining on him he threw the root behind 
him that the unknown person had given him. He was almost winded 
and thought he could not run any more, when he saw that he was far 
ahead of all of them again. The next time it took them longer to come 
up to him, but fiuall}- he gave out, and then one of the Buffalo began to 
gain on him. When the Buffalo was about to catch up, Braveness threw 
the mud, his last medicine, down behind him and soon he was far ahead 
again. He knew that he had u.sed all of his medicine, and he knew 
not what would happen to him next, but he kept on running. When 
he was nearing the goal, he could hear the others coming close behind 
him, for some of them were gaining on him and he was giving out. 
He did not know what to do, but just as one of the Buffalo was about 
to catch up with him, a heavy wind came up and greatly assisted and 
kept the Buffalo far behind him until he crossed the goal and won the 
race. Because wind had helped him at the last moment, he knew that 
it was wind that had talked to him and had given him the medicine 
and thus saved his life. After the race he staj'ed with the Buffalo 
people for a long time and no one ever molested him again. 

Finally he and his wife went back to live with his people. They had 
one child, and when it was about one j-ear old they decided to go again 
to see the wife's people, so that her parents might see their grandson. 
They went and remained with the Buffalo three years, and then they 



76 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

returned to Braveness' home. The child's mother would not let him 
go out and play with the other boys, for she was afraid he might do 
things that he ought not to do ; but one time, while she was cooking 
dinner, the boy slipped away from her and went down where the other 
boys were playing. When he joined them they began to play that they 
were Buffalo. The little boy began to play with them. He laid down 
to roll like a Buffalo, and when he rolled over twice he got up a real 
Buffalo calf, and the boys began to run from him. Just at this time his 
mother had missed him and she looked down where the boys were 
playing. She saw them running and thought something must be wrong. 
She went to see what the trouble was and there she found her .son changed 
into a Buffalo calf. She took him and ran down the hill, and then she 
dropped down on the hill and became a Buffalo, and then ran away 
before her husband came back from hunting. When he came back he 
could not find his wife or his son, and then some one told him what 
had happened while he was gone. At first he could not believe what 
he heard, but soon he went down to the place where they had rolled 
and saw their tracks, and then he believed the story. He never heard 
of them again. 

44. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED WILD-CAT.* 

A father and mother had three sons and a daughter. The girl was 
very beautiful, but very proud, and refused the attentions of the many 
young men who came to court her. One time a handsome youth came 
to their home and ate with them and talked to her father and brothers, 
but paid no attention to her. After he had spent the evening he arose 
and went home. The girl thought she had never seen so handsome a 
young man, and she wondered why he had not sought her as all the 
others had. She went to bed and thought of him for a long time ; then 
she fell asleep and dreamed of him. She dreamed that she saw him 
coming to her, and finally she awoke and lay still for a long time listen- 
ing and waiting to see if her dreams were true. She heard a faint 
noise, and .she closed her eyes and prayed that her dream would come 
true. When she opened her eyes the j'oung man was bending over her^ 
begging her to go with him. She arose and followed him out into the 
darkness. 

When they were a long way from home the man told her that he 
was not a real person, but an animal, the Wild-Cat, and he told her 
that if she wanted to go home he would take her back. She refused 
to go back, saying that she wanted to go with him, no matter what he 
was. Then he told her that her three brothers were already on their 

* Told by Wing. 



THE GIRL WHO MARRIED WILD-CAT. 77 

trail, and that they were very angry with him for taking her off. They 
hurried on until they came to the mountains. They climbed a high 
mountain, and then Wild-Cat told the girl to wait there for him. He 
went away and disappeared among the trees and rocks, but soon re- 
turned with another large Wild-Cat, who he said was his grandfather. 
While the three sat down to rest and talk the}' heard voices, and the 
girl knew that they were her brothers' voices. They arose and ran 
deep into the forest, but still they could hear the voices from the three 
brothers, who were gaining on them. At last they caught up with 
them and were very angry. They were going to fight the Wild-Cats, 
who, of course, were dressed like men, so the brothers did not know 
that they were Wild- Cats. The sister cried and promised her brothers 
that she would soon return to her home if they would go and leave 
them. The brothers at last yielded to her requests and went back 
home and told her father and mother all that had happened. The 
father became very angry and swore that he would find his daughter 
and kill her or the man. He went to the mountains and wandered 
about in search of her for many days, without food or drink or sleep, 
until he died. 

45. THE WOMAN WHO TRIED TO KILL HER SON.* 

At the beginning of this world the people and animals could under- 
stand each other and visited each other. There lived in those times a 
man and wife and one child, a boy about seven years of age. The 
people called the man Hunter, because he was very fond of hunting 
and hunted from morning until evening. While he was out, his wife, 
who was a very cross woman, abused her own boy, as she always did, 
because she disliked him. She told the boy to stay at home while she 
went away for a short time. She went out and was gone for a long 
time. Finally she came back and told the boy to go along with her. 
While she was gone she had been working hard digging a deep hole in 
the ground, and when she went after the bo}' she took him to the hole 
and threw him in. The hole was so deep that it was impossible for 
the boy to get out. She put some brush over it to keep any one from 
finding him. When Hunter returned home he asked his wife where 
his son was, and she told him she did not know where he was ; that 
she had been looking for him all day long. Then they both went out 
to look for the boy, but she would not take the man near the place 
where the hole was, and so they did not find him. They looked until 
night, and again the next day and the next. 

* Told by Annie Wilson. 



78 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

In the meantime the boy was growing very hungry, and so he began 
to cry. Finally he heard some one making a noise at the edge of the 
hole, but he could not see who it was, and so kept quiet, for he was 
afraid. Some one spoke to him, saying: "Boy, you are weary and 
hungry and I have come down to help you out of this hole. Now, do 
not be afraid of me, but catch hold of my tail and climb up." The 
boy obeyed, and when he came out of the hole he found that the person 
was Coyote. Coyote asked the boy if he would go along with him, and 
the boy said that he would, and so they went on to Coyote's home. 
He was kept there for three or four years and was kindly treated and 
was happy. One day he asked Coyote to let him go home and see his 
father. He said : " I do not want to see my mother ; I am very angry 
at her, and I am going to try to kill her, but I want to see my father, 
for he loved me and was kind to me. I am going to tell my father 
how my mother treated me, and then he will help me kill her. I will 
take my father and mother on a buffalo hunt when I get home, and 
toward evening we will kill a buffalo. I want j'ou and your children 
to come near and howl, and then I will tell mj' mother to come with 
me to give you some meat. When we go among you I will pu-sh her 
over, and then I want you and your children to jump upon her and 
kill her." 

Coj'ote consented, and so the boy went to his home. He arrived one 
evening and his father was very glad to see him. He asked his father 
if they could go out buffalo hunting on the next day, and he told his 
father all about what he was going to do with his mother. The next 
day they went out buffalo hunting, and he and his father found a herd 
of buffalo and killed one that evening. They made a camp near by, 
and while the woman was cooking their supper thej' heard the Coyotes 
howling. After they had eaten their supper the boy told his mother 
to get some meat and come with him to feed the Coj-otes. He told her 
to carry the meat on her back. She put the meat on her back, and 
then they started out toward the Coj'otes, and the boy walked behind 
his mother. The woman was afraid, for it was almost dark, but the 
boy told her not to be frightened, for there was no danger ahead of 
them and that nothing would hurt her. They kept on going until 
they came to the Coyotes. The boy told his mother not to be afraid, 
but to go among them and give them the meat. As she took another 
step forward the boy pushed her down, and then the Coyotes jumped 
upon her. The boy came back to his father and told him all that had 
happened. The father and sou lived together for many years. 



THE JEALOUS HUSBAND. 79 

46. THE JEALOUS HUSBAND.* 

One time the people decided to go on the war-path, and when they 
were about to start they selected one man to be their leader. They 
started out and they had to go a long way before they could find the 
enemy. After they had traveled several days, the head man selected 
from eight to twelve men to go ahead and spy and see if they could 
locate the enemy. When any of these men located any of the enemy 
they would go back and tell what they had seen, and then all the others 
would ride out to fight the enemy. The leader chose for spies two men 
who were verj- close friends and who would always go together from 
place to place. One of these two was married and the other was single. 
One day they went out for some distance, and after they had gone 
about two miles, climbing up and down the hills, they came to a high 
hill, almost like a mountain. They decided to climb up this mountain 
so they could look far out over the country-. They found on top a big 
hole in the rock that looked like an old well, and when they looked 
down into the hole they saw water. The married man told his friend 
to go down in the hole to get some water, for they were very thirsty. 
They had a long buffalo-hide rope and on this he descended. When he 
got to the bottom, he cried out to his friend to pull him up. Instead of 
pulling him up he threw the rope down the hole and went away and 
left him. He started for the camp, and when he reached there he told 
the head man that some of the enemy pursued them and that his friend 
was killed. It was a custom for the war party to continue the journey 
until they met the enemy in open battle, but if anything happened to 
a member of the party, or if any member should die through sickness 
or be killed, otherwise than in open fight with the enemy-, then the 
expedition was given up and the entire party returned home. When 
the man told the head man that his friend had been killed, the camp 
broke up and all prepared to start home. When they returned to their 
homes, the errand-man was sent by the chief to all the camps to call the 
people together. When the people came the chief told them what had 
happened. 

The man in the hole was star\'ing, for he had been in there several 
days without food. Whenever any birds passed over him he would 
ask for help and pray them to take him out of the hole, but the birds 
did not seem to take any notice of him. One day, after he had been 
in the hole nine days, there was a certain kind of bird passed over the 
hole and the man asked it for help. The bird went on, but finally flew 

* Told by V.'ing. 



8o TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

over the hole, and the man again asked for help. The bird passed ou 
again, and yet again, but the fourth time it lit on the ground and came 
near to the edge of the hole and peeped over the rim and saw the man. 
This bird was Buzzard, and Buzzard told the man not to be worried, 
that he would help him out, but that he must wait until he went back 
home after some of his medicine which he required. Buzzard went away, 
but came back and flew down to the bottom of the hole. Then Buzzard 
spoke to the man, saying that he was going to take him to the home 
of the Buzzards until he was able to walk home. The man was told to 
shut his ej-es and then take one step forward. When he did this he 
stepped on Buzzard's back. Then Buzzard began to fly upward and 
out of the hole. Then Buzzard told him to open his eyes, and he did 
so and saw that he was on laud again. The man was not able to walk 
at all, and so Buzzard told him to shut his eyes again, and they began 
to fly away from the place. After a while the man tried to open his 
eyes a very little, but Buzzard knew what he was doing and told him 
not to do it again. In a short time they arrived at the home of Buzzard, 
and while he was there the young man was treated kindly. After he 
had been there several days Buzzard asked him if he would like to see 
his people, and the man told him that he would, and then Buzzard 
called the man over to where he was, and when he got there Buzzard 
opened a very small place which was near where he was sitting. The 
man looked down below him and could see many Buzzard people. Two 
days after this the man was able to walk around and to do anything, 
and then Buzzard told him that he was going to take him to his home 
to see his people once more. Then Buzzard told the young man that 
his friend was jealous of him, and that the reason he had maltreated 
him was that he had been told he was going to take his wife away 
from him. Buzzard said : "I am going to take j^ou home, and we will 
reach your home about dark, and when we reach a place that is near 
to your home I will have to let you off. Then you will hear your friend 
singing in his lodge, which is near to yours. When you go into your 
lodge you will find all of j^our people there, and when they see you, 
tell them not to cry or make any kind of noise. Your own sister will 
be there and you must tell her to go after your friend's wife. She 
will not refuse your sister, but come right along with her." They 
started out and Buzzard told him to shut his eyes again. When 
Buzzard told him to open them he could hear his friend singing, and 
he knew it was he becau.se he recognized his voice. When they came 
near to his home Buzzard told him to get off of his back. He did, and 
went straight to his lodge, and when he went in his sister was the first 
one to meet him. When she came to him she began to cry. He told 



THE JEALOUS HUSBAND. 8l 

her not to cry, but to keep quiet. He told them how his friend had 
treated him and how Buzzard had taken pity on him and rescued him. 
When he had finished he told his sister to go and tell the woman to 
come. She went and told the woman that she was wanted. She did 
not hesitate, but went along with the girl, and they both came in and 
the woman saw her husband's friend, whom she thought was killed, 
sitting with the others. The woman stayed with this man and did not 
care to go back to her former husband any more. 

The husband was very sorry that he had told the stories to the head 
man and the chief. Many times after this these men went out on the 
buffalo hunt, and some of the others always watched him closely to see 
that he did not harm any one else. Finally they noticed that every 
time they went out he killed one buffalo first, and then did not take any 
of the meat, but would cut it up or dress it as though he were going to 
take it, and then would scatter the meat as though he were dividing 
it out to .some people. The people began to wonder what he did that 
for. After he had prepared and scattered the meat of the first buffalo 
he had killed he would go on and kill another one, and then he would 
take his meat home. After people had seen him leave the meat of the 
first buffalo many times some one asked him why he did that. He 
would not tell, but one time his uncle came and asked him why he had 
done that so many times, and he told him all about it. He said he had 
lived with the woman many years, and when he should die his wife 
should drop dead, too. 

47. THE TURTLE WHO CARRIED THE PEOPLE AWAY.* 

One time the people broke camp and were traveling about looking 
for a village site. They traveled far until they came near the big water, 
and there they saw what they thought was a large rock. They decided 
to make their village near the rock, so they could use it as a dancing 
place. They had several dances on the rock, but not all of the people 
were there. One time, after they had been at the village for some time, 
they sent the crier to announce a big dance. All the people came and 
danced on the smooth, flat rock. While they were dancing they noticed 
that the rock began to move. They watched it and soon saw a big 
head and legs appear from under it. Then they knew that they were 
not on a rock at all, but on a big turtle. They tried to get off, but 
found their feet stuck tight. They cried and called for help, but the 
turtle carried them down into the water and drowned them. 

* Told by Wing. 



82 TRADITIONS OF THE CADnO. 



48. WHY DOGS HAVE LONG TONGUES.* 

A long time ago, when the animals were like people, dogs were noted 
for telling everj'thing that they knew. In those days there were not so 
many dogs as now, but the best families always had a few hounds to 
take with them on the hunt. A man, Running- Water, who was a 
great hunter, wanted a dog to help him hunt, but he would not have one, 
because he hated to have some one always tattling on him and telling 
everything that he did. One time he saw four little pups and he de- 
cided to take one of them and try to teach him not to talk so much. 
He took the pup home, and every day, when he played with him, he 
would talk to him and trj' to teach him not to be a tattler like other 
dogs. The pup grew and was soon big enough to be taught to hunt. 
Running-Water began to take him out to hunt rabbits and small game. 
Every time the man killed any game the dog would sneak home and 
tell ; then he would return to Running- Water in a circuitous way and 
come up to him from behind, as though he had been hunting all the 
time. Running- Water knew that the dog was trj-ing to deceive him, 
and he whipped and scolded him. After each whipping he would stop 
running off and tattling for a little while, but soon he would begin 
again. 

After a time the dog was big enough to go far away into the high 
timber to hunt with his master. One day Running- Water told his 
mother to prepare a large quantity of food, for he and his dog were 
going to the mountains to hunt and would be gone many weeks. He 
loaded several horses with provisions and started out, with his dog for 
his only companion. After three days of traveling they came to the 
mountains and made camp. They hunted .several weeks and killed many 
big animals, and then started home. After a day's journey Running- 
Water missed his dog. He called him and searched for him and then 
went back to camp, thinking that he had perhaps gone back. He 
could not find him there, and .so he gave him up for lost and again 
started home. He did not think the dog had gone on home ahead of 
him, for he thought that he had broken him of the habit of running 
home and telling everything ; but when he came home he found the dog 
there. He had been there a long time and had told many big stories 
about the number of bears, mountain-lions, deer, coyotes, and other 
animals that they had killed. Running- Water was more angry than 
ever before, and he said, " I will make that dog stop tattling so much." 
He caught the dog, gave him a hard whipping, and told him he would 

•Told by Hinie. 



WHY DOGS HAVE LONG TONGUES. 83 

pull his tongue out the next time he came home and told everything. 
Then, being still angry, he caught hold of the dog's tongue and pulled 
it as hard as he could, and then he ran a stick across his mouth. Ever 
since then dogs have had long tongues and big mouths. 

49. WHY HAWKS HAVE THIN LEGS.* 

Chicken-Hawk was a poor hunter and never succeeded in bringing 
his family more than a little mouse or some game that he had begged 
from another hunter. One time he met Eagle and asked him if he 
would not help him kill an antelope that he had seen not very far away. 
Hawk pretended that he had killed manj' such big game before, and 
acted as if he were being kind to Eagle in asking him to help him. 
Eagle said he would if he could have half of the meat. Hawk said that 
he could, and so they agreed to go hunting for the antelope the next 
morning. Hawk went on home, and when he arrived he told his family 
that he had shot an antelope through the head, but that he could not 
kill him, and so he had run him into a place for the night, and that he 
would return in the morning and kill him. Hawk arose the next 
morning and went to the place where he was to meet Eagle. They 
started on the hunt and hunted half a da}'. They found the antelope 
in the mountain. Eagle killed it, and then Hawk came down and 
they divided the meat. Eagle took his meat and went away. Hawk 
took his meat and went straight home to .show it to his family, for he 
was very proud of it. He told them that he had met a person who 
had never tasted antelope meat and who was a poor hunter, and so he 
had given him part of his meat, but that the person promised to pay 
him back some day. His family were so well pleased that they told 
every one what a good hunter Hawk was. One time, after the ante- 
lope meat was gone, a friend, who had heard what a good hunter Hawk 
was, came to visit him, especially to see if the reports were true. Hawk 
hunted all one day, but returned with only a mouse. The friend 
refused to eat the mouse. Again Hawk hunted all day, but could not 
find anything. As he was returning home he felt so ashamed, that 
he cut some of the meat off of his legs to take home for his friend to 
eat, rather than admit that he had not found any game. For that 
reason hawks have no meat on their legs. 

* Told by White- Bread. 



84 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 



50. THE POWER OF BUFFALO AND BEAR.* 

One time when the animals spoke many languages, and yet under- 
stood one another, Bear and Buffalo met. They commenced telling 
each other about the powers that each received from the Father and 
when these powers should be used. Said the Bear: "Once upon a 
time I was a human being and lived like a human being, and went 
with the people from place to place. When they camped in the open, 
my family always made a camp near by in the timber or mountains, for 
we liked to climb the trees and play among the rocks. One night I 
had a dream. I dreamed that I was as you see me now, and I heard 
some one telling me of the many things that I had within my power 
to do. I was shown the place where I should stay, and I was given 
the paws and claws and the sharp teeth which I now possess. Then 
I dreamed that a human being was pursuing me and shooting at me 
with his arrows, and I knew that he was trying to kill me for food, as 
he does any other animal. I awoke from sleep and found that all I had 
dreamed was true, and from that time I have been as I am now. I left 
the people and began a new life in the mountains and woods, and from 
that time the people have hunted me and have tracked me with dogs. 
Now they call me Bear, meaning ' the mountain animal.' I have told 
youall." Buffalo began to speak : " I, too, was like a human being and 
my ways were like their ways when we first came to dwell upon the 
earth. My people were called the Buffalo people because our oldest 
chief was named Buffalo. One time our chief was taken away from us 
and we never knew what became of him, though we were told that the 
Great-Powerful-One had taken him to another world, and that some day 
we were all going to that other world, and that we would meet our chief 
there. We lived with the people and traveled with them, going behind 
them. The people began to enter this world, but we were forbidden to 
enter because some one had made a mistake that caused us to stay back 
where we came from. We found out that the person who had made this 
mistake was Coyote, and so our people began at once to pra}' that the 
Father would give him powers and teach him so that he might enter the 
world and take us along, that we might be with the people. We do not 
know how we came to be as we are now, but we know that in order to be 
in the same world as the people are we had to change into wild animals, 
and that for the love of the people we had to be their game, and we were 
to be killed and eaten by them. Then we were given powers to be 
dangerous, and these horns on our heads were given to us to fight with. ' ' 

* Told by White-Bread. 



THE POWER OF BUFFALO AND BEAR. 85 

Then Bear asked Buffalo if he could show just what he did when he was 
very angrj^ or when he wanted to hurt or kill any one. Buffalo began 
to throw up the earth and strike the ground with his sharp horns. Bear 
sat watching him, and all at once, before he knew what had happened, 
he was falling to the ground and Buffalo was coming at him again. 
When he had fallen to the ground a second time Buffalo asked him if he 
saw him when he first started after him. " No," said Bear. " Well," 
said Buffalo, ' ' I think you ought to show me how you use your powers 
when you get angry." Bear began to go through his movement, and 
Buffalo sat watching him. Bear began to walk back and forth and look 
at Buffalo with angry eyes. Finally he began to move very slowly toward 
a small tree which was near by, and when he reached the tree he grabbed 
hold of it and with his sharp teeth cut it down. Before Buffalo knew 
what had happened Bear was upon him and he was trying to get up 
from the ground, but Bear held him down until he was ready to give 
up. Finally Bear let him go, saying, "That is the way I do when I 
get very angry, but I would treat you worse than that if I wanted to 
kill you." Bear and Buffalo parted and went to their homes. 

51. HOW RABBIT STOLE MOUNTAIN-LION'S TEETH.* 

One time when Rabbit's grandmother had gone off and left him alone 
he decided to wander about and see what he could see. He went along 
until he came to the home of Mountain-Lion. Mountain-Lion was not 
at home, so Rabbit went in and hunted about. He finally found Moun- 
tain-Lion's teeth and he took them and ran home with them. He was 
glad to find them, for the other animals were afraid of Mountain-Lion on 
account of his sharp teeth. Rabbit showed the teeth to his grandmother 
when he reached home, and said : ' ' Now, grandmother, Mountain-Lion 
will soon be after his teeth, and we must fool him some way or he will 
kill us." Rabbit thought for a while ; then he said : " Build a fire just 
outside the door, put a big kettle of water on the fire, and then put some 
stones into the water and boil them. When Mountain-Lion comes he 
will ask what you are going to do with those stones. Tell him that I 
have a guest in the lodge who is going to eat them. I will talk to myself 
in the lodge as though I were entertaining a friend, and when Moun- 
tain-Lion asks who my friend is, say ' Chief of all the beasts.' " The 
grandmother made a big fire and put the stones on to boil. Finally they 
heard a big noise, and Mountain-Lion came tearing through the bushes 
and came straight to the old woman. He asked her if Rabbit was at 
home, and she told him that he was inside talking to his friend and guest. 

* Told by Wing. 



86 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

Then he asked what she was going to do with the stones, and she told 
him what Rabbit had told her to say. He asked who the friend was, 
and she told him, "Chief of all the beasts." "Oh, j'es, I know him," 
he said, and at the .same time backed off a little, and then he turned 
on his heels and ran as fast as he could. 

52. RABBIT AND THE DANCING TURKEYS.* 

One time while Wild-Cat was out hunting he came upon Rabbit in 
the tall grass. Rabbit and Wild-Cat were enemies, and so they began 
to fight. Soon Wild-Cat had Rabbit down and was about to kill him, 
when Rabbit said : " How would you like some nice Turkeys to eat ? " 
" That is just what I have been looking for," said Wild-Cat. " Well, 
I know where there are some, and I was just about to catch some when 
I met you. Xow, if j'ou kill me they will all get away. You had better 
spare my life until I show you how to catch the Turkeys ; then you may 
do what you please with me." Wild-Cat agreed, and so Rabbit told 
him to stand still while he sang the Turkey dance song. After he had 
sung a little, he told Wild-Cat to lie down and pretend to be dead ; 
that he would tell the Turkeys that he had killed Wild-Cat, and wished 
them to dance around him with closed eyes. While they danced, Wild- 
Cat was to jump up and grab all he wanted. Soon the Turkeys heard 
the song and came to see what it was about. Rabbit told them that 
he had killed the great turkey-eater, Wild-Cat, and that he wanted 
them to dance a victory dance around him. Rabbit continued his song, 
and as he sang the Turkeys danced. Wild-Cat peeped and saw one 
big one dancing near him. He jumped to get it, and as he grabbed 
the Turkey, Rabbit ran awaj^ through the grass, and so escaped from 
Wild-Cat. 

53. ADVENTURES OF COYOTE.t 

In the beginning of the world there were many, many people, and the 
people held councils to decide how things should be. There was one 
man, named Coyote, who alwa5-s had something to say on every sub- 
ject. At one council this question came up : " How and what kind of 
rain should be in the world ? ' ' One of the men said that it should 
rain in the form of lead balls, which would be very dangerous, and .so 
when the rain came the people would have to stay at home. Then 
Coyote arose from his seat and said : " If it should rain nothing but 
lead it would be very dangerous for my people, becau.se they do not 
stay at home very much, and as for myself, I might be carrying a big 
deer to my family to eat when the rain begins to fall and I would cer- 

»Told by Wing. fTold by Moon-Light. 



ADVENTURES OF COYOTE. 87 

tainl}- be killed. I say, let it rain in drops of water. Then we can be 
caught out in the rain and get very wet, but we will soon be dry 
again, and the wetting will be good for us." The people accepted 
Coyote's suggestion, and so it is that it rains in the form of water. 

When the council was all over and the people went to their homes, 
Coyote made up his mind to go out and visit some of his friends. He 
traveled until he came to the mountains. He saw smoke coming up 
among the mountains, as though some one was making up a big fire, 
and he thought he would go up and see who was living there. When 
he came near to the place he saw some one sitting by the fire. It was 
the great, powerful Bear. Coyote went closer, and Bear asked him if 
he was the person who was called Coyote, and Bear told him that if he 
was that he was going to kill him, for he had heard many bad things 
about him. Coyote told Bear he was not the person, but that he was 
the son of a great and powerful medicine-man. Bear did not believe 
him and decided to kill him. When he was about to kill him, Coj'ote 
told him to wait until his father saw him, for he might have something 
to say to him before he died. This happened at sunrise, and when 
the sun was just peeping over the hilltops Coyote said to Bear : " Now 
you may kill me or do as you please with me, because my father is 
watching me. ' ' Then Bear began to back away, and as he did so. Coyote 
began to go nearer and nearer to Bear. Finally he began to push him 
with his elbow, at the same time saying: " Now kill me while my 
father is watching me." Bear thought that he must be a great man, 
if he was the son of the Sun, and he wondered how he received his 
powers from the Sun. He became frightened and gave Coyote many 
things to eat, and then Coyote told Bear to come and make him a visit 
some time, whenever he felt like going anywhere. A long while after 
this. Bear found out that the person who made a visit to him was not 
the son of the Sun, but that he was the man Coyote, whom he wanted 
to kill. Bear was more angry at him than ever, and so he thought he 
would fool Coyote some waj' bj" going and visiting him and killing him 
if he could find his home. Bear did not find his home, because Coyote 
was alwaj's moving from place to place, for he knew that Bear was 
after him, and that he would kill him if he could catch him. 

While Coyote was moving from one place to another he came down 
to a large lake of clear, cool water, and after he had been there for some 
time he started off a little way from the lake. While gone he saw some 
one coming up toward him and, as he was very cowardly, he started to 
run away. The person was not his enemy, but a friend of his, Moun- 
tain-Iyion. He called Coyote back, and so he came, and he told his 
friend that he was very hungry, for he had had nothing to eat for a long 



88 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

while. Mountain-Lion asked him to go along with him, saying that he 
would find something for him to eat .soon. They both went to the lake, 
and when they came down to the water Mountain-Lion told Coyote that 
he was going to kill a young horse. In those times there were many 
herds of wild horses, and at the lake there was a certain place where 
the wild horses drank. Near the place where the road led to the water 
there was a large tree, and the horses passed under the tree as they went 
down to the water. Every day at about noon Mountain-Lion would 
climb the tree and then pounce down on a young horse and kill him. 
As Mountain-Lion and Coyote drew near to the tree Mountain-Lion told 
Coyote to place himself where the wild herd of horses could not see him, 
and so he did, and Mountain-Lion climbed the tree. Soon Coyote saw 
dust rise up from the ground and he heard something like thundering, 
and later he saw many hundreds of horses coming down to the water. 
As the horses were passing under the tree. Coyote saw Mountain-Lion 
jump out of the tree and pounce upon a young horse and kill it. Then 
Mountain-Lion and Coyote both had a fine dinner. That day, after they 
had eaten, Mountain-Lion told Coj'ote to continue on his way; but Coyote 
did not want to leave his friend, and so he asked Mountain- Lion if he 
could give him power so that he could kill a horse, too, and eat it when 
he was hungry. Mountain-Lion told him he would. Thej' stayed there 
until the next day, and at about noon they both went down to the lake 
again, and went to the tree, and then Mountain-Lion showed Coyote how 
and what to do when the horses .should come. He taught him how to 
climb the tree, and then he went out to place himself where the horses 
could not see him. 

Soon they began to come from different directions, and as they filed 
down to the water Coyote picked out a fat j-oung horse, and as they 
were coming up from the water he jumped on it and killed it. They 
had another fine dinner, and then Mountain-Lion said to Coyote : " Do 
not try to kill a three or four j-ear old horse. If you jump on one that 
is three years old you can not kill him and you may lo.se j-our own life. 
Try to kill one that is one or two years old and you will succeed every 
time." Coyote left his new friend and went on his way. The next 
day, while he was alone, he began to get verj' hungry, and so at about 
noon he went down to the lake to kill a horse. While he was on the 
tree he said to himself : "I wonder if it would be dangerous for me to 
kill one of the large horses. I may be stronger than Mountain-Lion, 
and so I will try to kill the largest horse and I will show Mountain- 
Lion that I am not so small as I look to him." The horses began to 
go down to the water, and Coyote waited and waited for the chance to 
jump upon the largest horse in the herd. Finally a large horse came, 



ADVENTURES OF COYOTE. 89 

and when he was right under the tree Coyote jumped upon him. It 
was but a short time until the horse threw Coyote off from his back, 
and when Coyote was down on the ground the horse kicked him under 
the jaws and went off. As Coyote was about to die, Mountain-Lion, 
who had been watching Coj'ote all the time, came up to see what was 
the matter with him, and when he came up to him he saw his jaws to 
one side. Mountain-Lion asked Coj'ote what he was laughing about, 
and asked him if he was able to kill another five-year-old horse. Coyote 
lay there for a long time before he was able to move. Finally he arose 
and decided to leave the place, never to return to it. As he was going 
along a small stream he heard some one up in a persimmon tree, and so 
he thought that he would go over and see who it was. He found 
Opossum in the persimmon tree eating persimmons. Coyote went 
under the tree and asked Opossum to throw down some persimmons to 
him. Opossum refused and laughed at Coyote and began to play with 
him. Opossum would take one persimmon and eat it, and then he would 
throw the seeds down to Coyote. Finally Coyote became angry at 
Opossum and wished he could get him down from the tree. Sometimes 
Opossum would get on a small limb of the tree, and then drop down as 
though he was going to fall to the ground, but he would always catch 
himself by wrapping his tail around the limb. He kept on doing this 
to torment Coyote for a long time, until he climbed out on a dry limb. 
He threw himself off the limb again and said to Coyote : " I am falling 
off, sure. I am coming down," and just as he let himself off of the 
limb it broke off and down came Opossum. Co5-ote was upon him and 
gave him a good beating, and then he left him to die. Opossum fooled 
Coyote, for he was not hurt at all, and when Coyote went away Opos- 
sum jumped up and climbed the persimmon tree again. After a while 
Coyote looked back to see if Opossum was dead. He could not see 
him, and so he went back and found that Opossum was gone. He 
looked up in the tree, and there he saw him laughing at him again. 

54. COYOTE ESCAPES AN IMAGINARY FOE.* 

One time Coyote went out hunting buffalo. While he was going 
through the timber he found Turkey up on the top of a tall tree. He 
told Turkey that he was going to kill him if he did not get down from 
the tree. He said : " If you don't come down I will climb the tree. 
If you fly to another tree, I will break it down at once, and will cer- 
tainly kill you ; but if you fly toward the prairie I can not harm you, 
for I have no powers to kill anything on the prairie. ' ' Turkey believed 

* Told by Wing. 



go TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

all that Coyote said and started out toward the prairie. Coyote wa.s right 
under Turkey all the time. At first Turkey flew up so high that Coyote 
thought he was going to lose him, but after a long flight Turkey kept 
coming down lower and lower, and finally came down on the ground. 
Then Coyote was not very far behind and he caught up with him and 
killed him. While Coyote was eating Turkey, he happened to look 
around to make sure that no one was watching him. He thought that 
he saw somebody standing behind him making motions as if trying to 
strike him. He started to run without learning who it was. Every 
now and then he would look back to see if he were out of his reach. 
Every time he looked back he thought he saw the man right after him, 
ready to hit him. He ran with all his might, trying to get away from 
him. Coyote had been given power at the beginning of the world to 
run without decreasing his running powers Coyote began to think that 
some great, powerful man was behind him and that he had to die. He 
had run eight times. The ninth time he thought he would run farther 
than usual. Again he looked around, right and left, and thought he 
saw the man just about to hit him. He started to run his best again, 
but his running powers were decreasing continually. He was then run- 
ning for the tenth time ; but it was all in vain, for the man seemed to 
be right up with him. Then Coyote thought he would fool the man, 
so he kept dodging right and left, but the man seemed to be near him 
all the time. When he started to run the twelfth time he had not gone 
far when he gave out. He rolled and turned over on his back and 
begged not to be killed. He fell over on his face, then heard something 
crack, and he thought it was one of his teeth, but it was only a turkey 
feather which had stuck between two of his upper teeth, and it stuck 
up nearly .straight and level with his head back of his right eye. At first 
when he looked back he had thought surely that some one was standing 
behind him ready to strike him. When he found that he had been 
fooled by only a turkey feather, and had been running himself almost 
to death for nothing, he was very angry. Ever since, Coyote has 
looked wild, and when he runs he starts out very slowly for fear he may 
have to run a long distance, and when he runs he first looks around 
to the right and then to the left to see if anybody is near him. Most 
often he looks to his right side while running. When Coyote reached 
home he told his family and others that he had been running after a 
great big mountain-lion, and that he had killed it. He said: "If 
there had not been so many trees I would have brought it home." 



COYOTE GOES FISHING. 91 



55. COYOTE GOES FISHING.* 



One time Coyote went out hunting along the river and saw some one 
walking along its banks, carrying something on his back. When he 
came nearer he saw that it was a man carrying a fish. Coyote came to 
him, and said : " How do you do, my friend ? Where are you going? 
Where have you been ? Where did you get that big snake? " "Well," 
said the man, " I have been out fishing nearly all night, and finally I 
caught this fish. I was so tired that I did not care to catch another." 
" What ! " said Coyote, "do you call that a fish ? How did you get 
hold of it?" "Well," said the man, "I will tell you how to get 
them. When evening comes go down along the edge of the river and 
break a place in the ice just big enough to put your tail in, and stay 
there until I come to see you again." That same evening Coyote 
went to the place and found the man waiting for him. It was getting 
dark. The man told Coyote to sit down bj' the edge of the water, 
while he was breaking the ice. Coyote did as the man told him. He 
did not know that this was a man whom he had tricked some time 
before and that he was trying to get revenge. The man left Coyote 
sitting by the bank fishing all that cold night. Toward the middle of 
the night the water began to freeze on Coyote's tail, and toward morn- 
ing the ice got thicker and thicker, and when morning came Coyote 
tried to get up from his seat, for he was very tired, but he could not. 
There he was, trying in every way to get free, but he could not move. 
When the man came he said to Coyote : " How are you getting along ? 
Are you catching any fish ? ' ' Coyote replied : " I think I have caught 
two or three of them, but can you help me to get them out on dry 
land? " " Yes," said the man, " of course I will, although I want to 
talk to you before we get the fish out of the water. You remember 
that a long time ago you were one of my best friends, but finally you 
tricked me, and now I am getting even with you. You will have to 
die, for I am going to kill you." " My friend," said Coyote, " I think 
you are mistaken. I do not think I am the man who played the mean 
trick on you. You know very well that I never betray my friends 
while I am able to see. If you will let me go this time I will go and 
bring the man you are looking for, and I will come back to-morrow 
evening and assure you that I am your friend." " But," said the 
man, " I do not see how you are going to get loose to go, do you? I 
will look for the other man myself, and I will do to him just as I am 
going to do to you." The man went back to his lodge to get his bow 
and arrows. When he returned to Coyote he took one of the arrows 

* Told by Wing. 



92 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

out and showed it to him and said, " You see this?" He began to 
sing the song that warriors sing just before they kill their enemies. 
When he had finished the song he shot and killed Coyote. 

56. COYOTE HUNTS GEESE.* 

Coyote was once a man and lived with the people. His great-grand- 
father named him Coyote, but becau.se he did wrong the people came 
to dislike him and began to call him coward. The reason the people 
did not like him was because he was always scheming and trying to 
cheat some one. One time he went out to visit his best friend, and 
when he arrived at his friend's lodge he found that his friend had been 
feasting on white geese. "Where did j'ou get these white geese?" 
" Well," said his friend, " I catch them every evening near the lake. 
Would you like to go with me this evening to catch a few of them ? " 
" Yes," said Coyote. His friend then said : " You go on home and 
come back this evening. We will then go together and I will show 
you where the geese always come in the evening, and I will see that you 
have a good time, too. " " Oh, you do not have to show me how to get 
them ; I can get them all right. All j-ou have to do is just to show me 
where they are," said Coyote. "All right," said his friend, and Coyote 
was pleased, for he thought he was going to have a verj- fine, fat bird 
for supper that evening. He danced all the way from his friend's home 
to his own. As soon as Coyote was out of sight the friend began to 
carry out ashes from the fire and place them near the lake, where he 
formed them in the shape of white geese. Just before it was evening 
he went out and put some coals under the ashes, and in a little while 
the coals burned up, but the fire could not be seen from the outside. 
When Coyote came to his friend he found him laughing and feeling in 
high spirits. " Well," said Coyote, "are you ready to go and catch 
a few white geese? I am ready to make a long jump and I think I 
can get two at once." " Well," said the friend, "I am ready, too. 
W' e will go now. ' ' They started out, and as they approached the place 
the friend began to go slowly, taking the lead, and when they came to 
the place he pretended not to .see the first pile of a.shes. Finally Coyote 
saw the first pile, came clo.ser to his friend and began punching him in 
the back. Both stopped and Coyote said : " I guess I will have to kill 
this first one, and if I catch him I will take him for my supper. " "All 
right," said the friend. Coyote began to get down next to the ground, 
going nearer and nearer to the pile of ashes. When he was about to 
jump, the friend began to laugh. Coyote paid no attention, but jumped 
on the pile of hot ashes and burned himself. He began to run from 
the place. He was burned so badly that he ran until he killed himself. 

* Told by Wing. 



COYOTE IMITATES HIS HOST. 93 

57. COYOTE IMITATES HIS HOST.* 

In thedaysof old, when animals were like people and talked and visited 
each other, Coyote and Raven were great friends. One day after Coyote 
had grown weary of hunting for game and finding none, he went up to 
the top of the mountain to see his friend Raven. Raven had control 
of the buffalo and was always seen with the herds. (Now, since the 
buffalo has gone from the earth, Raven has disappeared and is seldom 
seen any more.) Raven invited Coyote to enter, and when he saw 
Coyote weary and sad and silent he arose, took an arrow, shot it up 
into the air, and then stood waiting for it to come down. It came down 
and pierced him under the right arm. He drew the arrow out and with 
it came buffalo meat and fat. He gave the meat to Coyote, who ate 
heartily. Then Coyote smacked his mouth, arose, and said that he must 
be going, but before he went he gave Raven an urgent invitation to come 
over and make him a visit, and Raven promised to come. 

When Coyote went home he began making a bow and arrow, and when 
he had finished them he put them away until Raven should visit him. 
One day Raven bethought himself of his promise, and so he left his home 
in haste to pay Coyote a visit. Coyote received him with joy. After 
they had talked about many things Coyote said : "I have no meat, for 
I did not expect you, but if you will wait I will soon have some for 
you. ' ' Coyote took his bow and arrow and shot the arrow into the sky, 
then stood waiting for it to come down. Raven watched him and said 
never a word. The arrow came down and struck in Coyote's thigh. 
He ran away screaming with pain and left his guest alone. Raven 
waited a while and then went home without any meat, but in very high 
spirits notwithstanding, for Coyote's performance amused him greatly 
and he chuckled to himself as often as he thought of it. Coyote con- 
tinued to run until he pulled the arrow out of his thigh ; then he took 
the arrow and broke it to pieces. He never went back to see Raven, 
and time passed on and none of Coyote's friends saw him, and they all 
wondered what had become of him. At last he grew so hungry that he 
had to go out for food. He found none, and so he went to visit another 
one of his friends, for he had many. Black- Mountain-Bear received 
him graciously when he came to his home and asked him in. Bear said : 
" I regret that I have no meat to offer you." As he spoke he leaned 
against a persimmon tree that was weighted down with many ripe per- 
simmons, and as he leaned against the tree the ripe fruit fell to the 
ground. Bear smiled and asked his friend to eat. Coyote ate many, 

* Told by Wing. 



94 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

for he was very hungry. When he had finished he thanked Bear and 
said that he must be going, but before he went he insisted that Bear 
come to see him, and Bear promised to come soon. 

Coyote wandered all about looking for a persimmon tree. He could 
not find one with any fruit on it, and so he decided to take one without 
fruit. He cut the tree down and carried it to his home, where he set 
it up ; then he went out to look for persimmons. He had stolen some 
from Bear's home, but he had not stolen enough. Wheu he found more 
persimmons he took them home, and climbing the tree he placed the 
persimmons all over the tree, so that they looked as though they had 
grown there. 

Black- Mountain- Bear was out hunting one day, and as he was near 
Coyote's home he remembered his promi.se to visit him, and so he ran over 
to see him. Coyote was glad to see him and asked him in. "I am so 
sorry I have no meat for you," he said, " but if you will wait I will try 
to get you something to eat." Coyote began to bump against the tree 
with his head. He hit harder and harder, but the persimmons would 
not fall. Finally he arose and shook the tree with his hands, though it 
embarrassed him to have to do this. He gave the tree a big shake and 
over it fell, hitting him on the head. He pretended that it did not hurt 
and went about gathering up the fruit for Bear, though he could hardly 
see for pain. Bear ate, though he could hardly swallow for laughing, 
for Coyote's head kept getting bigger and bigger. After a little while 
Bear said that he nuist be going, for he was afraid to stay longer for 
fear Coyote would see him laugh. After he had gone Coyote sat down 
and held his sore head, but he felt happy notwithstanding, for he had 
furnished food for Bear. 

58. COYOTE IMITATES HIS HOST.* 

One morning while Coyote was out looking for something to eat he 
came to a grass lodge. Thinking that there might be food inside, he 
decided to go in and pay his respects to its owner if he should be there ; 
if not, help himself to food. He entered and saw a man walking about 
with a light on his head. At once Coyote called out : " Say, friend, 
your head is on fire, and you and j'our house will burn up if you don't 
look out." The man smiled and replied in a calm voice: "I have 
always worn this light on my head. It was given to me in the begin- 
ning. It will not burn anything." Then the man, who was Wood- 
pecker, gave Coj'ote something to eat. After Coyote had eaten all he 
could, he arose and said that he must go. He asked Woodpecker to 

* Told by Wing. 



COYOTE IMITATES HIS HOST. 95 

come over and make him a visit, aud Woodpecker promised that he 
would. Some time later Woodpecker remembered his promise and 
so started out to find Coyote's lodge. He found it, and Coyote, much 
pleased, invited him to come in and be seated. Woodpecker entered 
and was surprised to see a big bunch of burning straw on Coyote's 
head. "Ah, take that off. You will burn your head. " Coyote only 
smiled, and replied in a calm voice : " Oh, no ; that will not burn my 
head. I always wear it. I was told in the beginning that I would 
wear a light on my head at nights so that I can do whatever I like to 
while others are in darkness." He had no more than finished speak- 
ing when the hair on his head caught fire. He began to scream and 
try to put it out, but could not. He ran out of his lodge screaming 
for help. Woodpecker waited for him to return, but he did not come. 

59. COYOTE, THE DEER, AND THE WIND.* 

One time when Coyote was out hunting something to eat he met 
Deer. Deer asked Coyote where he was going, and Coyote told him 
that he was going out hunting. Deer asked Coyote how he killed his 
game, for he noticed that he carried no bow and arrows. " I can kill 
anything I can get my hands on," said Coyote. " But how do you 
get close enough to get j-our hands on your game?" Deer asked. 
" Sometimes I run the gime down, sometimes I catch them asleep." 
Deer said : "I am considered good food ; even the human beings are 
very fond of my flesh. If you can catch me I will let you kill me and 
eat me." Deer started to run, and Coyote started after him, but soon 
lost sight of him and gave out. He went on home, but he could not 
help thinking of Deer's offer, and wondering how he could catch him. 
He wandered about trying to find him asleep, but never did. One time, 
after Coyote had been out searching to find Deer asleep, he grew very 
tired and lay down in the tall grass to take a nap. When he awoke he 
heard some one singing near bj'. He was badly frightened and sat up 
straight and rubbed his eyes and peeped about. He saw no one, but 
as he sat still and listened again he heard his name mentioned in the 
song. He jumped up and ran as fast as he could ; yet he always heard 
the voice singing in his ears, just as near as when he woke up. He 
ran as fast and far as he could ; then he dropped down to die. While 
he was panting, he heard the voice again, and it was so near that he 
heard these words : "If Coyote ever kills a Deer he shall be as fleet as 
he, and I who am singing am going to give him power to catch a Deer. 
I am the Wind." Coyote's fear vanished, and he arose and barked at 

* Told by White- Bread. 



96 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

the Wind in a loud voice, to give thanks. His weariness left him and 
he started out to find Deer. He traveled all day, but could not find 
him. At night he came to a camp, where he stole a buffalo robe. He 
put the robe over him and then went on to look for Deer. Down by 
the river he thought he .saw him. He went another way and slipped 
round a bend in the river until he came close to Deer. He reached out 
his hands to grab him and said, as he caught hold of him : "I have 
you ; I thought you said I could not get you." To his surprise he 
found that he did not have Deer, but the man whose robe he had stolen. 

The man took Coyote home with him and made him work for him and 
his sister, and treated him very cruelly, because he had stolen his robe. 
One time while the man was out hunting. Coyote went into the lodge 
and said to the sister in a loud, angry voice : " Pack up your clothes ; 
I am going to take j^ou to mj' home as prisoner, and you will have to 
work there as I have worked here. Your brother is killed and now 
you must come with me." The girl was frightened and obeyed. They 
started toward Coyote's home. Coyote went behind the girl with a 
long stick in his hand, and whenever she stopped or fell he hit her with 
the stick. The girl went on, though she was so tired and frightened 
that she could hardly move, and as she went she prayed that her brother 
was not dead, but would come and help her. 

In the meantime the man returned home and found his sister and 
Coyote gone. He knew at once what had happened and started after 
them and soon caught up with them ; for he had the power to travel as 
fast as the fleetest arrow, though Coyote did not know it. When he 
was almost up with them he shot an arrow in front of his sister. She 
saw it and knew that her brother was coming to help her ; then she 
began to cry the more from joy. Coyote whipped her for crying and 
made her travel faster. The man saw Coyote strike his sister and heard 
the cruel words that he spoke to her. He went on a hill and then shot 
another arrow. Coyote looked up and saw him and became frightened 
even more than the girl had been. He dropped his stick and ran to the 
girl and begged her to let him carry her bundle of clothing, and begged 
her not to cr>'. The man came down from the hill and asked Coyote 
where he was going with his sister. Coyote said that the people had 
treated them so badly he had decided to take the girl to another village, 
where the people would be kind to her. He said that he was helping 
her along the way and had been kind to her. The brother of the girl 
did not believe Coyote, for he had seen his treatment of her. He told 
Coyote to take the bundle of clothes and put it on his back ; then he 
told his sister to sit on the bundle. He put his bow-string through 
Coyote's mouth and gave the ends to the girl. She sawed the strings 



COYOTE, THE DEER, AND THE WIND. , 97 

back and forth and the man ran along by the side of Coyote, whipping 
him, and thus they returned to their home. This man was the Wind, 
who had become angry at Coyote for stealing his robe and trying to 
catch Deer with it, instead of waiting for him to give him power. 

60. COYOTE DIVES FOR MEAT.* 

Oue time when Coyote was out hunting she killed a big deer. She 
cut the deer up and hid it in a tree while she went home to get her 
children to come and help her carry the meat home. Wild-Cat saw her 
kill the deer and hide it, and as soon as Coyote was gone he stole the 
meat and climbed a tree on the bank of the river, where Coyote could 
not see him. After a little while Coyote returned with all of her happy 
and hungry children. They looked every place for the meat. The 
children were angry at their mother and said that she had lied to them. 
While they were abusing her, she saw the reflection of the meat in the 
water, and, thinking that it was the meat, she told her children to sit 
still while she dived for it. She told them that it had fallen into the 
water, but that she could very easily get it if they would only be quiet 
and wait. She dived and struggled in the water, reaching for the 
meat, but never getting it. Finally she sat down upon the bank to 
rest, wondering how she could dive deep enough to get the meat. After 
she had rested she told the little Coyotes to bring her some stones. 
She tied the stones about her neck and dived again. The Coyotes 
waited a long time for their mother to come up, but she did not come. 
After a while they saw some excrement on the water, and they laughed, 
for they thought it was the meat their mother had thrown up. When 
they laughed Wild-Cat laughed at their foolishness. They looked up 
in the tree, and there saw Wild-Cat and all of the meat. Wild-Cat 
told them that their mother was drowned. Then they began to cry, 
but Wild-Cat told them not to cry, that he was going to come down 
and take care of them. He climbed down and brought the deer meat 
with him. He gave the little Coyotes all they wanted and then took 
them home. After that, whenever he killed any game he always took 
some over to the Coyote children, and fed and cared for them until 
they were grown. 

61. COYOTE, THE GEESE, AND THE WOODPECKERS.* 

Coyote was returning home after an unsuccessful hunt. He was going 
along sad and discouraged, when he heard some one laughing and play- 
ing. He listened for a while, then decided to go and enter into the fun, 
so that he might be cheered up. He ran over a little hill, and there on 

» Told by Wing. 



98 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

the Other side was a big lake, and on the surface several white Geese 
were plaj'ing. He sat down behind some brush to watch them. They 
were tr>ing to see which was the strongest. One would get on the back 
of another and fly, trying to see which could fly the farthest. Coyote 
decided not to enter into their play, but to try to catch them and take 
them home to his family. The Geese had seen Coyote coming, for they 
have power to see a long distance, but they pretended that the}- had not 
seen him and did not know that he was hiding behind the brush. 

Coyote watched them for a long time, trj'ing to think of some plan 
whereby he could catch all of them. Finally he began to grin to him- 
self, for he had thought of a plan that he thought would work splen- 
didly. He limped out from the bushes, pretending that he had been 
hurt and was almost dead. The Geese, hearing him crying, turned and 
saw him come limping toward them, and they all began to swim out 
into the water. When they were out far enough for safety one turned 
and asked Coyote what was the matter with him. He answered : " I 
am going to be killed if I do not get across the water. I must get 
across, not so much on my own account as others, for if I am killed all 
the rivers and lakes will dry up and there will be no water for any one. 
I should hate to die and cause all of this to happen." 

The Geese thought for a while, and then decided to take Coyote and 
throw him into a deep hole ; for the Geese were very smart people in 
those days and they knew that Coyote was lying to them. One old 
Goose, who was very strong, went to the bank and told Coyote to get 
on his back if he wanted to go across the water. Coyote said that he 
was too heav}- for one to take him across ; that he would not trust him- 
self to one. The Goose told him to get on if he wanted to go across the 
water ; that they did not have much time to fool away with him. There 
was nothing else to do, so Coyote got on the old Goose's back. The 
Goo.se flew up in the air so quickly that Coyote did not know what had 
happened until he was away up in the air. All the other Geese flew up, 
and they all took turns in carrying him. They flew over a timbered 
country back from the lake, and when they were directly over a large 
hollow trunk of a tree they dropped Coyote. He fell into the hollow 
trunk and could not get out. He began to pray for power, and asked 
everything all around for help, for he was frightened almost to death 
and thought he would never get out. A Fly flew into the hollow tree, 
and he prayed to him to give him any power that he had which would 
help him out of the tree. The Fly said that his power was too weak 
to help Coyote, but that he would go to a friend of his and bring him 
to help Coyote. The Fly flew away and soon returned, saying that his 
friend was coming. Finally he heard a bird on a tree near by, and he 



COYOTE, THE GEESE, AND THE WOODPECKERS. 99 

peeped out of a small hole in the tree and saw that the bird was a Wood- 
pecker. The Woodpecker called to Coyote and asked him if he really 
wanted to get out. Coyote answered in a weak voice that he did. The 
Woodpecker said that he had to go and get some one to come and help 
him. Soon Woodpecker returned with some of his brothers, and they 
began to peck a hole in the hollow tree. At last the hole was big enough 
for Coj'ote to get out. He told them to stick their heads in and see if 
they thought he could get out all right. They stuck their heads in and 
Coyote bit their heads off. After he had eaten all the Woodpeckers 
who had worked to make the hole for him, he escaped. 

62. COYOTE AND RABBIT KILL A BUFFALO.* 

Rabbit and his grandmother lived by themselves, and Rabbit often 
went out to hunt to get something for them to eat. He began to go 
pretty far from home, and his grandmother scolded him and told him 
not to go so far, but to remember that he was little and might be killed. 
Rabbit did not pay any attention, for he knew that he was a good run- 
ner. One time he went far away, but could not find any game, and so 
he turned around to go home. As he went he played along the way 
and sang to himself. Coyote was out the same day looking for some- 
thing to eat. He was just about to give up and go home when he heard 
some one singing. He looked all about and saw Rabbit. He grinned 
to himself and quietly slipped up behind Rabbit. When he knew that 
he was so close that Rabbit could not get awa}', he j-elled " Bo ! " at 
Rabbit and made a grab for him. Rabbit was badly frightened, but he 
determined not to give up. He said ; " Coyote, don't kill me yet and 
I will tell you how to kill some good game. I can not do it alone, and 
I have just been wishing that you would come and help me with my 
scheme." " What is it ? " asked Coyote, very much interested. "I 
know where there is a big fat buffalo that we can kill if you will go 
with me." Coyote went, first telling Rabbit that if he lied to him he 
would kill him at once. Rabbit led the way to a place where an old 
buffalo stood. They went up to the buffalo, and Rabbit told Coyote to 
climb into its anus. Coyote obeyed and Rabbit followed. When inside, 
Rabbit told Coyote to begin to bite and eat the buffalo's sides. They 
both began and soon the buffalo fell dead. Then an old man ran up to 
the buffalo and began to butcher it. Rabbit told Coyote to hide in an 
intestine, and he hid in the bladder. When the man had cut up the 
buffalo he placed the intestines to one side, but threw the bladder away 
in the bushes. Rabbit crawled out of the bladder and escaped, but 
Coj'ote was discovered and killed. 

* Told by Wing. 



I(X) TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

63. COYOTE, MOUNTAIN-LION, AND RABBIT.* 

One time, when Coj'ote was out hunting for something to eat, he heard 
something crying like a child. He ran to some rocks from whence the 
sound came, and there he found Mountain-Lion's den and her young 
left there alone. He determined to devour them, for he was very hungry, 
but he hesitated because he feared Mountain-Lion. At last hunger 
got the better of his judgment, and, saying to himself that he was not 
afraid of old Mountain-Lion, he killed and ate all of her children. 

When the mother came back from the hunt with food for her young 
ones, she could not find them. She looked every place, and soon dis- 
covered Coyote's foot-prints. She knew at once what had happened. 
She started out to find Coyote, but he always escaped her. After she 
had followed him many days, she sat down on the bank of the river to 
rest. Not far away she saw some one and she at once recognized 
Rabbit. She determined to call Rabbit and ask him to help her catch 
Coyote, for he was the enemy of both. Mountain-Lion called to him 
in a gentle voice so as not to frighten him, and asked him to come to 
her, for she wanted to speak to him. Rabbit was afraid at first, but 
when Mountain-Lion told him that she wanted him to help capture 
Coyote, Rabbit came. They started along the river together. Soon 
they found a deer. Mountain-Lion told Rabbit to wait while she killed 
the deer. She followed the deer into the thicket, killed it, and then 
called Rabbit to come and help her cut it up. When they had butchered 
it, Mountain-Lion told Rabbit to cover her face with fat so that she 
could not be recognized ; then to put the deer on her back. After Rabbit 
had done that. Mountain- Lion told him to get on top of the deer and 
to drive her around until they met Coyote. While they were cross- 
ing the prairie they heard some one calling, " Rabbit, where did you 
get your fine horse ? ' ' But Rabbit did not answer, and went on as 
though he had not heard the voice. Again the voice called, " Rabbit, 
did not you hear me ? Wait, I say, I want to see your horse." Rabbit 
went on until Coyote, for it was he, had caught up with him ; then he 
said, " This fine horse was given to me." Coyote said : " Get right off. 
That horse is mine. I lost it and you have found it. Get right off." 
Rabbit pretended to be afraid and jumped off. Just as Coyote was 
about to get on the horse, he stopped to bite a piece of fat off of its 
face. Then he recognized Mountain-Lion and started to run for his 
life, but it was too late. Mountain-Lion sprang upon him and killed 
him. 

* Told by Wing. 



COYOTE BECOMES A BUFFALO. 



64. COYOTE BECOMES A BUFFALO.* 



While Coyote was out hunting something to eat he met Buffalo, who 
was very powerful among his tribe. He was eating grass and looked 
fat and well fed. Coyote asked him if he would give him power to 
turn into a Buffalo and eat grass as he did. Buffalo said : " Yes, I will 
give you the power which was given to me by the Great-Father- Above, 
but when I give you the power you must not use it every chance you 
get, but only when very necessarj'. ' ' He told Coyote to stand facing the 
other way and not to move, but to be brave as he was. Coyote stood 
still, wondering what was going to happen to him. Buffalo began to 
throw up dirt with his hoofs and to act very angrily. He told Coyote 
to keep his eyes closed. Then he made a plunge toward him, and 
when he was about to strike him with his horns. Coyote jumped out 
of the way, and Buffalo passed him without touching him. He did 
this the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times, but the seventh 
time he stood there without moving. He could hear Buffalo coming at 
him, but he stood there awaiting what would happen to him. Buffalo 
struck him and rolled him under his stomach with his horns aud threw 
him up into the air. When he came down on his feet he was turned 
into a very young Buffalo. He began to eat green grass at once. 
Then the old Buffalo told him that if he wanted to turn into a Coyote 
again, he must find a Buffalo wallow, roll himself over two or three 
times, and then he would arise a Coyote. Again Buffalo cautioned 
him not to use his power too often, telling him that the power was 
good for only seven times, aud he also told him that he must not give 
the power to any one else, especially to any of his own race. Before 
they parted the real Buffalo told Coyote to change back into a Coyote, 
and he did so, and then the}' both went on their way. Before Coyote 
had gone far from Buffalo, he wanted to try his power to see if he 
could use it alone. He did, and became a Buffalo. During that 
same day he tried his power three or four times, and before he had 
met any one he had tried it six times, and had turned himself into a 
Buffalo for the seventh time. While he was a Buffalo he met one of 
his own people, a famous Coyote, and so he went up to him and said : 
" Do not you want me to give you some of my power, so that you can 
eat grass as I do ? You look as though you were very hungry." 
" Yes," said Coyote. " Well, all right," said Coyote-Buffalo. " Go 
off a short distance from me and stand there and face the other way. 
Do not run, but be brave as I am. Close your eyes. Now, I am 

*Told by White-Bread. 



I02 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

ready," and so he started at him, but the other Coyote jumped out of 
the way every time until the last time came. Then Coyote stood his 
ground, and Coyote- Buffalo rolled him under his stomach, and they 
both went up in the air and came down on their feet. They were both 
Coyotes, and they stood looking at each other for a time ; then they 
separated and went off. 

65. COYOTE AND THE TURKEYS.* 

Coyote was looking for something to eat, for he was hungry as ever. 
Finally, on his way, he heard a noise. He thought to himself, " Some 
people must be having lots of fun," so he made up his mind to go and 
enjoy himself with them. He went in the direction of the noise and he 
found many Turkeys. They were having fun by getting into a large 
sack and rolling down a steep hill. When the Turkeys saw him coming 
they said that they were going to put him in too. Coyote came and 
wanted to take part in the fun, for he thought it a good chance to kill 
some of the Turkeys. He let the Turkeys roll him down the hill two 
or three times ; then he thought that his time had come to carry out his 
plan. He told all the Turkeys to get into the sack and he would roll 
them down the hill. Every one of them crawled into the sack, and then 
Coyote tied it fast at each end, so that they could not get out, and put 
it on his back and started for home. He had four young sons at home, 
and calling them to him he opened the sack and took out one of the 
Turkeys, saying : ' ' You see this. I have that sack full of Turkeys. 
Build a big fire and we will have a feast." They built a fire, but did 
not have enough wood to make a big, hot fire. " We will go to the 
timber for wood, and }'ou," speaking to his youngest son, "stay here and 
watch the sack." " Be careful not to untie the strings," said Coyote. 
Then he and his three sons started for the wood. After they had been 
gone a little while young Coyote thought he would look into the sack 
and see what the Turkeys were doing. He untied the strings, and just 
as soon as he untied the strings the Turkeys all ran out and flew away. 
Young Coyote did not know what to do, but finally he decided to put 
some dirt in the sack and fool his father that way. He went to work 
and filled the sack with dirt. His father returned and said, " Now, 
children, we will have a fine feast," and went to the .sack to kill three 
or four more of the Turkeys ; but when he opened the sack he found 
nothing but dirt in it. Coj-ote was very angry at his son, and he asked 
him how he had let the Turkeys get away, and the boy told him all 
about it. Coyote killed his young son and ate him in place of the 
Turkeys. 

*Told by White-Bread. 



coyote's eyes are replaced by buckeyes. 103 



66. COYOTES EYES ARE REPLACED BY BUCKEYES.* 

One time Coyote was out hunting something to eat, and on his way- 
he heard a noise and he said to himself, ' ' I think those are some Tur- 
keys that escaped from me some time ago. They will not get away 
this time, for I will kill them before I get home." And so he made 
up his mind to go and see what they were doing, and to catch them. 
When he went to the place, he found Ducks playing about in the 
water. When they saw Coyote coming they knew him at once, for 
they had often heard about him. They came out of the water and 
stood on the bank, and when he came up they asked him if he would 
like to play with them. He said, " Yes, that is just what I want to 
do, and I will show you some of my tricks after 3'ou show me some of 
yours." They debated what to play, and one of the Ducks spoke up 
and said : " We will play in the water. We will take one man and 
take his eyes out and let him dive into the water just as long as he can 
hold his breath, and as soon as he goes under the water we will throw 
his eyes into the water after him, and when he comes out from under 
the water his ej-es will be in their place. How do you like that?" 
the Duck asked Coyote. " That is all right," said Coyote. " Well, 
we will commence now." The first Duck had his eyes taken out, and 
then he dived into the water and his eyes were thrown in after him, 
and when he came up he had them in their place. Then another took 
his turn, and so on until every one of the Ducks had tried, and then 
Coyote's turn came. His eyes were taken out and thrown into the 
water after him, and he came out with his eyes in their place. The 
Ducks were given power to do most anything that they wanted, but 
they had the power to do each thing only once. Coyote wanted to try 
the trick once more, but the Ducks did not want him to try it again, 
for they knew that their power was limited to one time. Coyote kept 
begging them, and finally the Ducks let him try the trick again, and so 
they took his eyes out and he dived into the water. The Ducks knew 
that they could not put the eyes in place again, and so they flew away 
and left Coyote. While he was going along he was talking and 
crying. He was asking .some one who had greater powers than he to 
help him out of his trouble and to give him eyes again. Finally a 
man found him and he told him that he would help him all he could, 
and told him to wait there until he returned. He went off to find 
something with which to make Coyote some new eyes. He was gone 
for a while, and when he returned he had some green buckeye balls. 

*Told by White-Bread. 



I04 TRADITIONS OF TUE CADDO. 

He told Coyote to be brave once more, that he was going to hit him 
where the right eye was with the buckeye ball, and then where the 
left eye was with another ball, and then he would be able to see ; and so 
he did, and thus Coyote's eyes were restored. 

67. COYOTE AND TURTLE RUN A RACE.* 

One time, as Coyote was returning from a long and unsuccessful hunt 
for game, he passed the home of his old friend Turtle. Being weary 
and hungr3' and in no hurry, he decided to stop and make Turtle a visit. 
Turtle invited him in and offered him something to eat, as Coyote had 
hoped that he would. While Coyote ate. Turtle stretched himself out 
to rest, saying, "I am tired out. I have just come back from the 
races." Coyote asked what races. "Our people have been having 
foot races down by the river. Have not you heard of them ? " Coyote 
smiled at the thought of Turtle's racing and said that he had not heard 
of the races, and if he had he surely would have been there. " Who 
won?" he asked. "I did," said Turtle. "I have never j'et been 
beaten in a race with my people." Coyote answered, " I have never 
been beaten either. I wonder how a race between us would come out. ' ' 
" The way to find out is to have a race," Turtle said. " I am willing, 
if you are. When shall we have it? " Coyote answered. They deter- 
mined to run the race two days hence. In the meantime Coyote had 
finished eating, and so, promising to come on the second day to run the 
race, he departed. 

When he arrived heme Coyote sent his son to call all of the Coyote 
people and announce to them that his father was going to run a race 
with Turtle, and that he wanted them all to come and bet heavily on the 
race, for of course he would defeat Turtle. As soon as Coyote had gone 
Turtle .sent his son out to announce that his father was going to run a 
race with Coyote, and that he wanted all of the best runners to come 
to his lodge. They all came and listened to Turtle's plan to beat Coyote 
in the race. Turtle arose when they came in and said ; ' ' We all know 
that Coyote is a good runner, but he is also a cheat. He has cheated 
us in many waj-s. Let us now cheat him out of this race. Will j'ou 
help me do it ? " Every one present agreed to help him. Then he con- 
tinued : " This is my plan. I want each one of you to put a white 
feather in your hair just like the one I wear, and paint j'ourselves to 
look just like me. Then station yourselves at intervals along the course. 
Coyote will run with his head down, as he always does. One of you 
will start with him, but when he has left you far behind drop down in 

* Told by Wing. 



COYOTE AND TtTRTLE RUN A RACE. IO5 

the grass. Then the next one will jump up and run. Coj'ote will look 
up and see you ahead, then he will run until he passes you. Then the 
next one will jump up and run, and so on until the last one. I will be 
the last, and beat him over the goal." The Turtles talked over the 
plan, then arose and went home to prepare for the race. 

The first day passed, and then the day came when they had to run 
the race. Early in the morning the Turtles stationed themselves along 
the way in the tall grass, and soon Coyote came. They began to 
discuss the distance they should run. Turtle wanted to run a long 
distance, but Coyote did not want to go a very long distance ; he 
thought that he could beat Turtle in a short distance just as easily as 
in a long distance, and he did not care to tire himself. Turtle insisted, 
and so Coyote said that he would agree to any distance that he would 
mention. Many Coyotes came and began to bet on Coyote. 

They started to run and all the Coyotes began to laugh, for their man 
was far ahead, but soon to their surprise Turtle was ahead. Coyote 
overtook Turtle, and then they began to laugh again. Soon they heard 
the Turtles cheering, and to their amazement Turtle was far in the lead. 
Again Coyote overtook Turtle, and again Turtle came up far in the 
lead. The Coyotes cheered one moment and the Turtles the next. 
Just as Coyote had passed Turtle and was near the goal. Turtle crossed 
the line, and all the Turtles set up a loud cheer. Coyote ran off in 
the grass, and is wondering yet how Turtle beat him in the race, and 
all the other Coyotes are angry at him because he lost the race and 
caused them to lose so many bets. 

68. COYOTE, WILD-CAT, AND THE OLD WOMAN. 

An old, blind woman lived all alone. Her home was far away, and 
no one ever came to see her and few people even passed by. Though 
she was blind and old she somehow always had plenty to eat and seemed 
to get along as well as anj' one else. She always had her pot full of 
meat, and those who passed could smell it cooking, and they wondered 
who brought the meat to her. Whenever she sat down to eat she 
would always say, "AH ready for dinner," just as though she were 
calling some one to come and eat with her ; then she would saj-, ' ' Orphan, 
I was only talking to myself." 

One day Wild-Cat happened to come to her house while he was out 
looking for something to eat. He smelled the cooking meat, and so 
decided to stop a while. When he went in he saw that the old woman 
was blind. He slipped quietly to a corner and sat with one eye on the 
boiling pot and the other on the old woman while he tried to make a 
8d 



Io6 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

plan to steal the meat. After a while the old woman took the pot off 
of the fire and sat down to eat, but first she called, "All ready for 
dinner. Orphan, I was only talking to mj-self. " Wild-Cat sprang up 
ready to run, for he thought that she saw him and was talking to him. 
When she did not say anything more, but began to eat, he forgot his 
fright and slipped over and began to eat, too. He ate very quietly, 
being careful not to crack any bones or to make any noise in chewing 
or swallowing. He ate until there was only a little left in the pot ; 
then he slipped quietly out. After that he came there every day and 
ate so much that he grew slick and fat. 

One day Coyote met Wild-Cat and said : " You always seem to have 
plenty to eat, and yet I never see you kill any game. Where do you 
get so much to eat ? " Wild-Cat told Coyote how he went to the old 
woman's home and ate from her pot every day. Coyote wanted to go 
along, and so Wild-Cat agreed to take him, but first he made him 
promise to keep very quiet and to do only what he was told. Coyote 
promised, and so they started to the old woman's place. When they 
came near Coyote smelled the cooking meat and started to run on ahead, 
but Wild-Cat pulled him back. They slipped inside and sat near the 
door while the meat was cooking. When the old woman took the pot 
off of the fire and called, "All ready for dinner," Coyote jumped up, 
and it was all Wild-Cat could do to hold him back. When the old 
woman began to eat, Wild-Cat and Coyote slipped up and quietly stole 
meat out of the pot. Coyote put a big piece in his mouth and began 
to chew so hard that he forgot all about keeping quiet. His jaw came 
down on a bone and it cracked so loud that the old woman jumped up. 
Wild- Cat saw his jaw coming down on the bone and was out of the 
house by the time the old woman jumped up. She ran to the door 
and closed it, and then took a long spear that stood in the corner and 
began to. poke around in the room. Coyote slipped about for some 
time, but finally the spear pierced him and he cried out with pain. 
Then the old woman knew for sure that some one was in the house, and 
so she kept on poking until she killed him. Wild-Cat came back next 
day and found Coyote dead. He was .sorry, not because he cared for 
Coyote, but because he was afraid to go in the old woman's house 
again to eat, for fear she would kill him. 

69. COYOTE CHALLENGES THE SNAKE.* 

One time while Coyote was out hunting something to eat he decided 
to go where Snake lived. He started in the direction he thought Snake 
lived and went to many places, but he could not find him. He went 

* Told by Annie Wilson. 



COYOTE CHALLENGES THE SNAKE. I07 

along talking to himself, saying, "I thought so; Snake is not so 
poisonous as people think, and if I ever find him I will show him my 
power." He kept going from place to place. Finally he came to one 
place and thought he would stop and rest for a while. He was not 
there very long when he heard some one calling him. He arose and 
looked around and saw Snake coming toward him. When Snake came 
up to him. Coyote asked him how he was getting along in the world, 
since he had been made so small. " You look so small that I do not 
think you can do very much harm to any one, though I have heard 
many times that you have much poisou. They say that you are more 
dangerous than I, and so that is the reason I have gone from place to 
place looking for you. Now that I have met you I want you to show 
me in what way you are more powerful and dangerous than I am." 
Snake said: "Yes, I look very small to you, but you know that 
although I am small I am given power by our Father, and by his aid 
I have done many things in this world. I have killed many animals, 
large and small. Now you have come to see me, and whatever you 
want me to do I will do it ; but first tell me what you want me to do. ' ' 
"Well, "said Coyote, " I want toseewhichof us has the most power." 
"All right," said Snake, " you may bite me just once anywhere you 
like, and I will bite j-ou, too, and in that way we will see who has the 
more power." " But you have to bite me first," said Coyote. "All 
right," said Snake, and went up to Coyote and bit him on the top 
of his nose, and then said: "That is all I can do." Coyote stood 
there as though he was not hurt at all. He asked Snake if that was 
all he could do, and Snake said : " That is the best I can do to show 
you my power." Coyote said : " Well, it is my time to show you my 
power." "Yes," said Snake, and so Coyote came up to Snake and 
bit him nearly in two. Snake cried out and begged Coyote to let him 
go. " Now," said Coyote to Snake, " you lie there and I will lie here. 
We will call to each other every now and then, so that we can see who 
will live the longer." Snake went a little way o£f and laid down, 
acting as though he were about to die. Coyote also went off a little 
way and lay down. He was thinking Snake would die in a little while, 
and so he called out to him. Coyote could just hear him answer in a 
weak voice, as though he was almost dead. After a while he heard 
Snake calling him and he answered with a big voice. They kept on 
calling to one another all night. Toward daylight Snake called Coyote, 
but no answer came from him. He called again, but still no answer. 
The third and fourth times he called, but there was no answer. Snake 
went over to see what was the matter, and when he got there he found 
Coyote all swollen and dead. Snake was more dangerous than Coyote. 



I08 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 



70. COYOTE TURNS INTO A CORN MILL.* 

The women made their corn mills from the trunk of an old tree. 
They cut a piece about two feet through and three or four feet high 
and hollowed it about twelve inches deep in one end. There they 
placed their corn and ground it to meal with a pounder. There were 
many of these mills, but one that was very old and smooth the women 
liked best. 

One day a woman went to use the old com mill, and as she pounded 
her corn she saw that it was diminishing too fast, and when she had it 
ground she saw that she had only a little. She gathered up her meal 
and said nothing, but watched the next woman pound her corn. It 
disappeared in the same wa3% and so did the corn of the third and the 
fourth women who came to use the mill. They all wondered what 
could be the matter with the mill, and they examined it carefully and 
saw that it was not the old mill that they had always used. One of 
the women cried out to get an axe and cut it and see where their corn 
had disappeared. As one of the women ran to get an axe the mill fell 
over and began to roll about, and Coyote jumped up from the place 
where the mill had been and ran away. Coyote had turned into a corn 
mill and hidden the old one so that he could get all he wanted to eat. 

* Told by Wing. 



ABSTRACTS. 



I. THE CREATION AND EARLY MIGRATIONS. 

In beginning darkness rules. Man comes, and soon there is village with thousands 
of people. Man disappears ; returns with seeds. He says Sun is coming and will 
be given power by Great- Father- Above. Unknown man tells people to select chief. 
In council is Coyote, who tells people to call unknown man Moon, because he is 
first created man on earth. People make Moon chief, and he selects errand-man 
to summon people, and chief tells them they are to move to better world. They 
divide into groups and select leaders, and chief gives each leader drum and tells 
them to sing and beat their drums. None of them is to look back, lest they should 
be stopped and stay in darkness. People move westward and come out of ground 
to another world. Coyote tells chief world is too small, and looks back. Half 
go back and others go on west. Chief throws dirt in front of him and forms high 
mountains. People come to mountains and there make their first homes. Moon 
goes to mountain top and sees people have scattered in different directions. When 
together they spoke Caddo ; now each group speaks different language. Moon 
says direction to right is north, or cold side ; that to left south, or warm side. Sun 
comes up from east and goes down in west. He goes too fast to do any good, so 
Coyote starts eastward and tells Sun he wants to talk with him. They walk 
together slowly, and when half way to west Coyote tells Sun he is going to defe- 
cate and asks him to wait a while. Coyote goes behind bushes and then runs 
away. Sun waits ; then starts on slowly, still waiting for Coyote. Beginning of 
real people was in village called Tall-Timber-on-Top-of-the-Hill. Moon calls people 
together first time in new world, and says child will soon be born of woman and 
will have more power than any one else. He will name himself Medicine-Screech- 
Owl, after former chief, aud have with him bow and arrows. Child comes and has 
bow and arrows. On his first birthday he names himself Medicine-Screech-Owl. He 
says bow and arrows are for men to kill game. He teaches people to make bows 
aud arrows. In those times animals talked to human beings and they understood 
one another. Afterward some human beings turned into animals. Medicine- 
Screech-Owl visits most ferocious auimals in behalf of people. People have little 
to eat, except man and woman known as Buzzard, who have plenty of meat. 
Coyote, in order to find out where they get so much meat, turns into dog. Buzzards 
find little dog. Man says it is not real dog. To find out whether it is real dog, 
woman pinches its ear and it howls like dog. Man tells woman to give dog some 
meat to see whether it eats fast. She does so, aud Coyote takes his time in eating 
it. So Buzzard believes woman and they keep dog. Coyote stays with them until 
meat gives out and then watches them. Buzzard starts out after more meat, leaving 
dog at home. He follows and finds out where they get their meat. Three days 
afterward he goes to cave with rock as door, where he had seen Buzzards at work. 
He opens place and out come thousands of buffalo. Buzzard discovers what has 
happened, but dog has gone. Coyote tells people to make bows and arrows, as 
buffalo are coming. Buzzards now have to look for dead meat ; so they become 
real buzzards. As time passes on, people notice that Moon pays no attention to 



no TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

them and stays at home. He is unmarried and lives with his father and mother 
and one very young sister. Unknown to his father and mother, Moon goes by 
night to see his own sister. She does not know who he is ; but one night she put 
black paint on her fingers, and when man comes she passes fingers across fore- 
head and makes black marks. In morning she sees marks on his forehead. When 
Moon learns that people are finding out about him, he is ashamed and wishes to 
leave them. Father- Above takes him away and places him far above, where people 
can see his shame marks on his forehead. After Moon has gone, people select 
Medicine-Screech-Owl as chief. He makes them move westward, climbing moun- 
tains. At top they see large lake, and Medicine-Screech-Owl says waters are tears 
shed by Moon for wrongs he had done his people. People keep moving on west- 
ward and make bows and arrows. They go long distance to hunt buffalo and 
other animals. One place they dare not go to, as in water there is most ferocious 
animal. Medicine-Screech-Owl goes to kill animal. He makes narrow road 
through thicket and sees animal. He has bow and some corn to use in killing it. 
He throws corn into air and it becomes blackbirds, which fly over head of animal. 
When animal rises to draw blackbirds down, Medicine-Screech-Owl shoots it 
through heart, first from right, then from left side. Animal falls and dies. Coyote 
now becomes bad man and makes all kind of trouble among people. Medicine- 
Screech-Owl tells Coyote he must go, but on Coyote's saying he is going to stop 
his mean tricks, chief allows him to stay until he should be captured or killed at 
any time. 

1. THE ORIGIN OF D.W AND NIGHT. 

In beginning people live in darkness. They discuss how they can get light. 
Man who is prophet is appointed by Coyote to investigate. Prophet reports that 
there are yellow, black, spotted, half-.spotted, and white deer. He says that if 
they kill both black and white deer they will have day and night. They hunt 
until they kill black and white deer, and from that time we have had day and night. 

3. THE ORIGIN OF ANIMALS. 

People and animals live together and are same in beginning. After a time there 
is not food for all. Council is held and chiefs determine that some shall become 
animals and be hunted for food. People living near burnt grass are rolled in 
ashes until they become bears. They are given ten lives. When killed first time, 
second life is to arise from blood spilled upon ground, and so on through other 
lives up to tenth, bear to become fiercer each life, and finally to eat human beings. 
People living near long grass are rolled and become buflfalo. They are given ten 
lives and put to live upon prairie. Deer are made in same way, and after them all 
other animals. 

4. COYOTE REGULATES LIFE AFTER DEATH. 

Coyote proposes rule that when any one dies he shall be dead forever and no 
living person ever see him again. People are well pleased, and from that time 
when anybody dies he is gone forever. People are taken to sky and become stars. 
Morning-Star has three brothers, and he is leader. He gets up early now, because 
formerly he was errand-man and had to rise early. His brothers are Evening-Star, 
North-Star, and South-Star. They watch lest enemy should approach. Their 
father was Great-Star and was chief of people. They believe every one when he 
dies goes up to sky. 



ABSTRACTS. Ill 

5. COYOTE AND THE ORIGIN OF DEATH. 

In beginning there is no death, but there ^are so many people that there is no 
room for any more. Coyote thinks people should die for good, but all others 
decide that people shall come back. Medicine-Men build a grass lodge and tell 
people that when white and black eagle feather on top becomes bloody and falls 
over, they will know some one has died. Then Medicine-Men will sing and call 
spirit to grass house and they will restore it to life again. Sign shows that some 
one is dead. Medicine-Men sing, and in ten days whirlwind blows from west, 
circles about, and finally enters by east. From it appears handsome young men. 
People rejoice, except Coyote, who is displeased. After feather becomes bloody 
and falls. Coyote goes to grass house and sits near door with singers. When he 
hears whirlwind coming and it is about to enter, he shuts door. Spirit finding door 
closed whirls on by. Death forever was then introduced. Ever since then spirits 
of dead wander over earth until they find road to spirit land. Coyote runs away, 
and ever since he runs from one place to another, looking back to see if he is being 
pursued. He starves, as no one will give him food. 

6. THE SECOND MAN WHO CAME OUT OF THE EARTH. 

Moon first man to come out of earth into world. Second man is Tonin, who is 
greater than Moon and more powerful. He is four feet high and rides horse no 
bigger than dog. He can turn darkness into light and have anything he wishes 
for. By wishing he can go any distance, and he can kill any game by pointing 
his forefinger at it. From time to time he disappears into sky. He can foretell 
future. He calls people together and tells them about this world, and says in six 
days he is going away and will be gone six winters and seven summers. He wishes 
them to come and see him start. On sixth day Tonin sings death song, and is 
gradually lifted up from earth to sky. When it is time for him to return, stars become 
brighter and larger. When day comes and Tonin's brother gives sign that he is 
about to return, large stars come up in east and Tonin comes back to earth. He 
tells people about future, and that strange people will come and frighten away 
buffalo, deer, and be.ar. After some time he tells people he is going as before, but 
that he will not return. He goes up into sky. 

7. SNAKE-WOMAN DISTRIBUTES SEEDS. 

Great-Father gives seeds of all growing things to Snake- Woman. Afterward 
she and her two sons travel over world to carry seeds to people. They give six 
seeds of each kind of plant to every person. Snake- Woman says they are not to 
allow any one, especially children, to touch them or ever point to them as they grow. 
If any one gathers seeds too soon she will send poisonous snakes to bite them. 

8. THE FLOOD. 

Waters of earth dry up. People become crazed and cut to pieces dead animals 
that dwelt in water, thinking them responsible for water disappearing. They see 
man in sky coming from west. Wind blows and man lights on ground, carrying 
small green leaf. He tells people they have abused him and he is angry. He 
motions leaf in four directions and water falls from it. Waters grow in volume 
and rise all over world to highest mountains except one. To this mountain man 
leads few of people, and they stay four days. As waters rise man causes moun- 
tain to rise. When green things appear on earth again, he leads people down from 
mountain. They find many people have been turned into alligators and other 
water animals. 



H2 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

9. THE EFFEMINATE MAN WHO INTRODUCED STRIFE. 

Man works and dresses like women and goes with them. War breaks out, and 
all men go to fight but this one. Old man threatens to kill him if he will not fight. 
Man refuses to go, and when old man threatens to have him killed by warriors on 
their return, he says they can not kill him and he will bewitch people and cause 
them to fight and kill one another. Old man incites warriors to kill man as 
coward, and they beat him until they think he is dead. He jumps up alive and 
they cut off his head. He runs about headless. People notice spot on little finger 
of left hand. They cut it out and man lies down aud dies. Soon after, people 
begin to fight and quarrel and kill each other. Then old man tells people what 
coward had said, and they are sorry they killed him. 

10. THE ORIGIN OF THE MEDICINE-MEN. 

In days of old, people and animals are on friendly terms. Animals possess won- 
derful powers and give people power in dreams or visions. Man who has had 
dream remains several days in silence. He then calls friends and old men to lodge 
and teaches them his songs and dances. They all call themselves medicine-men, 
and if any one is sick they hold dance in grass lodge for six days aud nights. 
First medicine-men to receive power and give dance are two young brothers. 
They are brave hunters. In sleep in lonely woods both have dream, in which they 
walk together toward east. They see man coming rapidly toward them. He 
stops and after long talk reveals bag and asks them choose any kind of medicine. 
He gives them medicine for long life and teaches them how to use it. When boys 
wake up, each remembers dream, but says nothing. After many months each begins 
to try his powers. War breaks out with Chickasaw and many are killed or taken 
prisoners. Chickasaw on waj* home have war dances and dance around prisoners. 
Young man escapes, and when Chickasaw come after him he crawls into hollow 
log. After they return he crawls out and goes home. Many men are awa^' when 
Chickasaw make attack, among them two brothers with power. Men start to 
pursue Chickasaw and overtake them. At first sight they run into camp, kill 
many Chickasaw, and rescue prisoners. Strong- Wind and his brother exhibit won- 
derful powers. After many years brothers die and tribe has no medicine-man. 
Finally very 30ung man is given powers by Klack-Mountain-Bear. While out 
hunting, darkness comes and he lays do%vn to sleep in shelter. He dreams that he 
is walking on narrow trail eastward and sees man sitting with head down. Man 
tells him he wants to give him medicine, and takes out many roots, of which boy is 
to choose six. He takes six roots, but old man tells him he must go before six men, 
who will explain their use. He gives back four. He sees old man sitting by trail, 
who explains use of his medicine. While going toward third man he awakes. 
He returns home and keeps silent. He wanders about, looking for roots seen in 
dream. At last he finds plant. Soon after man is about to die. Young man calls 
medicine-men together and teaches them dance song he has been taught in dream. 
They all go to sick man's lodge. They dance si.x days and nights before young 
man finds out what is matter with him. Finally young man begins to tdk in 
strange tongue and dances slowly. He falls to ground and begins to crawl like 
mad bear. He places mouth on place where greatest pain is, draws pain out by 
blowing breath on place, and pain is gone. People know Black-Mouutain-Bear has 
given him power. He is now called Black-Mountain-Eear-Medicine. Medicine- 
men's society holds dance and wants young man to show his powers. Sixth night 



ABSTRACTS. 113 

he joins dance. He dances faster and faster and picks up gun. He takes out 
bullet and powder and puts them back again and gives gun to helper. He dances 
again, falls, kneels, and spreads out arras. Helper shoots him through breast and 
he falls in faint. He rises, dances again, and shows bullet to people. He has 
caught it in his hands. Another young man has wonderful power given him by 
Mountain-Bear. He has bear's skin that he causes to turn into young bear, which 
follows him about. Then he turns animal back into skin. There are two kinds of 
medicine-men. One has power to heal sick ; another has power to prevent any one 
from being hurt or harmed. The latter are more powerful than others, as they can 
perform without medicine and can be with people afar off. They have a song of 
death which frightens away death. This power is generally given by Sun, Moon, 
Stars, Earth, or Storm, and also by some very wild and ferocious animals. 

II. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A TURTLE. 

Girl lives with two brothers, who are famous hunters. Girl plays by water and 
gets to know Turtle. He asks to be her husband. She consents and sees him 
as often as she can. Brothers go away for many days. Girl builds high bed for 
Turtle ; carries him home and puts him in it. Every day she puts bowl of pota- 
toes in bed for him to eat. Brothers come home, and she wants to take Turtle 
back to river, but he begs to stay. Boys notice high bed, but suspect nothing until 
they see sister take bowl full of potatoes to bed and take it out empty. They 
pretend they are going hunting, and soon return. Girl goes to dig potatoes. Boys 
find Turtle in bed and kill him, and then run away. Girl finds husband dead and 
runs after them. Boys come to river, where many white ducks are playing. Boys 
offer to paint ducks different colors if they will carry them and bob-tailed dog 
across river. Ducks carry them across and soon girl comes. Ducks say they 
have not seen boys and dog. White duck, whom boys have forgotten to paint, 
says boys and dog have just passed. Duck carries girl across. Brothers see her 
coming. They meet three white doves, who, at their request, fly to the sky with 
them and dog. Smoke makes doves' white feathers gray. Girl asks doves where 
brother and dog are. They point to three bright stars in southern part of sky. 
Girl looks at stars and falls dead. 

12. THE MAN AND THE DOG WHO BECAME STARS. 

Man has dog who when they' are off alone hunting talks as if he were man. 
He can always tell what is about to happen. Once Dog comes running back and 
tells master they are coming to dangerous place. Dog scents deer and starts on 
trail. Man shoots deer, which runs to lake and jumps into water. Dog jumps in 
and holds deer until man comes. They kill deer, and man swims toward shore 
with it on his shoulders. Dog cries out. They are surrounded by poisonous and 
dangerous water animals. Man prays to spirits to help them, and water leaps up 
and throws them on shore. Man in gratitude throws some of deer's flesh into 
water as sacrifice. Man and dog decide to leave this dangerous world and go to 
sky to live. They are two bright stars in south. 

13. EVENING-STAR AND ORPHAN-STAR. 

Poor orphan boy lives with large family who mistreat him. He goes with 
people to island in large lake to hunt eggs. They go away while he is asleep and 
leave him to starve. He lives for time on scraps he finds around dead camp fires. 



114 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

He sits by water's edge and tries to catch fish as they swim past. Large animal 
with horns comes to him through water. He tells boy he will carry him to main- 
land. He climbs upon animal's back and animal says he is to tell him if he sees 
star. They have not gone far when boy saj's there is big star in west. Monster 
sees it, turns and swims back to island. For five days he starts with boy and swims 
back again because boy sees star, but each day he gets little farther. Sixth time 
he is within few feet of opposite shore when boy sees star. Boy says nothing and 
monster swims on until they are near shallow water. Boy sees great black cloud 
roll in front of star. He jumps off animal's back and swims to shore. Something 
strikes animal with awful crash and he is killed. Handsome young man comes and 
thanks boy for what he has done. He has long tried to kill monster, because he 
made waters of lake dangerous. Man, who is Evening-Star, takes boy to sky and 
he stands near him as Orplian-Star. 

14. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR. 

Maiden sleeps in arbor and watches stars. She goes to sleep, wishing one star 
especially would marry her. When she awakes she sees old man sitting by fire- 
side. He tells her she is Star's wife. She begins to cry. Star's sister is preparing 
food, anil tells her to stop crying and come and eat. Women go out to dig pota- 
toes. Big potato is gale of heaven and covers entrance to world beneath. Girl 
tells Star's sister she wants to go back again. Sister tells Star and he agrees to 
let her return in si.K days. They begin to make rope of young elm bark. In six 
days rope only half long enough. It is finished on eleventh day. Next morning 
girl is fastened to end of rope and let through hole. Rope is gradually slipped 
out, and after long while she sees earth. She travels man3- summers and winters. 
Her food is almost gone and she is far from earth. Rope ceases to slip and she 
hangs there long time. She sees Buzzard circling around below her and she calls 
to him. He takes her on his back and flies until he nearly gives out. Hawk helps 
him and flies with girl until he gives out. Buzzard takes her again and alights 
with her near village. Girl is weak and exhausted, and woman helps her to lodge. 
Mother does not know her at first. .After tenth day people come to tipi to see 
her. She tells them her story, and especially about kindness of Buzzard. .After 
that, people always leave one buffalo for buzzards after big killing. 

15. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR. 

- Very beautiful girl, whose three sisters marrj-, will not receive attention. She 
is tired of home and prays spirits to help her go wherever she wishes. She watches 
stars and wishes she may become wife of North Star. She sees very old man 
sitting by fireside and thinks she is dreaming. Old man tells her she is in his 
home as his wife, as she wished. She does not like looks of old man. but has 
to stay. She tries to get away and thinks of big stone North Star has told her not 
to move. She goes and lifts stone and finds she can look down to earth. She 
wonders how she can get down, and thinks of rope of soapweeds. When North 
tar is out at night she cuts soapweeds, and when she has enough she begins to 
make rope. When rope finished she fastens it to rock, and next time man goes 
away she climbs down. She comes to end of rope before she comes to tree tops. 
She hears noise, and bird passes under her feet. When passing fourth time he 
tells her to step on his back and he will take her home. She gets ou bird's back 
and he flies with her to her home. Before leaving her he says he is Black-Eagle. 



ABSTRACTS. 115 

:6. LIGHTNING AND THE PEOPLE. 

Lightning lives upon earth with people, but he becomes so powerful and kills so 
many people that he is sent away. Great monster lives under ground and begins 
to carry away people. They can not kill him, as he always disappears under 
ground. Lightning tells them he will kill monster if they will let him come back. 
He will kill all monsters and make earth safe place for people to live. People let 
Lightning come back. 

17. THE BROTHERS WHO BECAME LIGHTNING AND THUNDER. 

Medicine-Man has wife and child twelve years old. He kills many deer. One 
day on returning from hunting he finds boy alone. He asks where mother is, and 
child says she took water bucket and went toward creek. They go and can not 
find her. 'I'here are footprints at edge of water, and man knows something has 
taken his wife. They go back to house and mourn for six days. Seventh day 
Medicine-Man goes hunting. While he is gone, boy plays with bow and arrows. 
Fourth time father goes, and while boy is playing, unknown boy with long nose 
and very long hair conies. He says he is boy's elder brother, and will always 
come to see him when father goes hunting, but he is not to tell father. They play 
with bows and arrows, and unknown boy runs back to woods when he sees 
Medicine-Man coming. Medicine-Man again goes to hunt, and after fourth time 
boy wakes father at midnight and tells him about his brother. Father says they 
must capture boy and tells sou he must play as though he had gone away, and 
he will turn into .small insect and stay behind door. Boy comes, but sees man 
behind door and runs away. Next day father places himself at edge of roof of 
grass house, but boy again sees. Third day father tells boy to tie other boy's hair, 
and then places himself in middle of fire, but unknown boy finds him out and 
runs back to woods. Next day man goes behind another door, and fifth time he 
places himself in air, but boy each time finds him. Sixth time boy does not see 
which way father goes, and when he says father has gone hunting, other boy 
believes him and sits down by him. Little boy gets hold of his hair and says 
there is something in it. Boy tells him to get it out, and little boy ties hair as 
father had said. He calls and father jumps out of grass house. They capture boy 
and keep him in grass house six days. Then they wash boy, and Medicine-Man 
cuts his nose off and makes it look human. Before going hunting again, Medicine- 
IMan tells boys not to go to place where large squirrels live, for they kill little 
children. They go to place and big squirrel comes out of hole in tree, sticks 
tongue out like snake, and takes young brother into tree. Other boy goes home 
and brings fire. He puts hard red stones into fire, and when hot throws two 
stones into hole. Large squirrel comes out and drops on ground dead. Boy goes 
and cuts open squirrel's stomach and finds brother alive. Boys go to make arrows. 
Unknown boy makes two arrows for his brother and paints one black and other 
blue. They make small wheel of thin bark. They roll wheel to each other and 
shoot it with arrows. They play with wheel every day until Medicine-Man's boy 
misses it and wheel keeps rolling and they can not find it. They start out after 
wheel, and when they have gone long way, they stop for rest. They pray to spirits 
to help them. Unknown boy puts pecan nut in ground. It sprouts and tree grows 
up to sky. Boy tells brother he is going up tree, and will be gone until he has 
dropped all bones in his body and his head, and that brother must gather bones in 
pile, cover with buffalo calf's hide, and shoot arrow up as hard as he can. When 



Il6 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

he hears arrow coming he is to tell him to get out of way, and bones will do so. 
Boy then climbs tree, and after a while his bones drop, and little boy piles them 
together as he was told, and shoots black arrow, and brother jumps from calf hide. 
He says his father has given him very dangerous power, and that brother must 
climb tree to get power. Liltle boy climbs tree with like result. Little boy has 
power of thunder and other boy power of lightning. They goon until they come 
to large lake and see place where wheel has pas.sed into water. They pray again, 
and boy plants another pecan, and large tree springs up and it bends over lake and 
makes a bridge. They cross and find trace of wheel. They follow it and see old 
man. Lightning boy tells Thunder boy that old man took wheel and has it in his 
right side. They kill man and find wheel. They go on and find old man's people, 
whom they kill. They come to pile of bones and they are bones of Medicine-Man's 
wife. They cover tliem with buffalo calf hide, and bring her to life again by means 
of black arrow. They all start for home. Lightning boy gets there first and finds 
father very old man and still weeping for his children. He goes out to meet his 
wife and son. All live happily for number of years, and then father and mother 
die. Bo}-s are lonely and decide to leave world. They go up in sky, and when 
clouds gather in storm, Lightning and Thunder are seen in their midst. 

i8. SPLINTER FOOT BOY. 

Orphan boy who lives with grandmother is famous hunter. While long way 
from home stick pierces his leg and breaks off inside. Leg swells and friends 
have to carry him home. Leg continues to swell and finally skin breaks and child 
comes. Boy is angry, but grandmother cares for baby. While she is away boy 
takes child to lake and leaves it. Child lays there until it grows to be good- 
sized boy. Many birds fly over lake, and when they are half way cross, lake leaps 
up and draws them down. Boy sees this, and one day sees big water monster in 
water. He wishes he could kill water monster, and while thinking about it some 
one hits him on back. He turns, and there is Medicine-Screech-Owl, boy about 
his own age. Medicine-Screech-Owl says he will help him to kill monster, and 
tells him to go to grandmother's and get six arrows, bow, and six grains from sir 
different kinds of corn. Grandmother surprised to see him and gives him all he 
asks for. He returns to lake and Medicine-Screech-Owl throws three grains of 
each kind of corn into air. They become birds and fly across water. Water 
monster leaps up to draw them down, and boy shoots at monster. Sixth arrow 
pierces it through and it rolls over and floats on water. Medicine-Screech-Owl 
says it is largest water monster in world. He takes bow and pulls monster to 
bank. He disappears and boy goes to grandmother's house and tells her what 
they have done. Boy goes again to lake. Water is very low, and so clear he sees 
fish swimming about. He dives to catch fish, and sword-fish goes right through 
him. Boy shoots fish with'i.bow and arrow. Next day all water gone, but boy 
sees two large shells. He takes them home and cuts them so that he can put them 
over holes made by sword-fish. He wears one in front aud one behind. Shells 
have power of hearing any sound in whole world. Whenever boy wants to hear 
anything he puts shells to his ears. He now becomes great medicine-man, and 
people plan to kill him. He and grandmother go to top of high mountain near 
village and make grass house there. He places two fierce dogs at door to guard 
house. Boy knows people who are planning to kill him by means of his shells. 
They die one after another, and people suspect boy is bewitching them. Many 



ABSTRACTS. 1 1? 

warriors try to steal to his home to kill him, but he hears them coming and sets 
dogs on them. Finally, Medicine-Screech-Owl decides to interfere. He starts up 
trail to boy's house, and blows so hard that it takes magic power of sound from 
shells. Near top of mountain he blows breath again, and dogs roll over asleep. 
He passes dogs and blows again, and old woman falls asleep. He does same with 
boy. He enters house and takes shells off boy, walks around, and then goes away. 
When almost down mountain he blows breath and boy wakes up. He misses 
shells and begins to look for them. Grandmother will not wake up and he shakes 
Medicine-Screech-Owl's breath out of her. Dogs will not wake and he knocks 
breath out of them with club. Dogs wake up and scent Mediciue-Screech-Owl's 
tracks. They start after him and come to big circle of fire. In midst stands 
Medicine-Screech-Owl wearing shells. They can not get through fire, and return 
without shells. Medicine-Screech-Owl keeps them some time, and then takes them 
back to boy and makes him promise not to bewitch people any more. 

19. MEDICINE-SCREECH-OWL. 

On Medicine-Screech-Owl's first birthday he is given bow and arrows. He names 
himself Medicine-Screech-Owl and will not have any other name, although there 
is ex-chief by that name. Ex-chief hears that child's name is same as liis, and 
says he will kill boy if he does not do what he tells him. He sends for boy and 
gives him watermelon seed and tells him to plant it that evening and in morning 
to bring him big watermelon to eat. Boy takes seeds and throws them on ground 
near his lodge. Watermelon plant springs up and in morning many large water- 
melons are on it. Boy takes melon to ex-chief, who is surprised and determines to 
destroy boy. Ex-chief again sends for boy and tells him to take large bull to his 
house and bring milk the next morning. Boy takes bull and in mornmg goes n ear to 
ex-chief's lodge to chop wood. Ex-chief sees him and asks him if he has already 
milked bull. Boy says he has not, but is in hurry to cut some wood, as his father is 
going to have child. When ex-chief asks if he has ever seen man have child, boy 
asks him if he has seen bull give milk. Third lime ex-chief sends for boy, saying he 
and some friends are going to have fine time. They dig very deep hole and cover 
it with buffalo robe. Boy is told to sit on hide, and he goes down into hole, which 
ex-chief fills with stones and dirt until he supposes boy is dead. Man tells ex-chief 
that boy is still living, and ex-chief sends for him fourth time. He tells boy to go 
and sit down in middle of big fire. Boy does so and sits until fire bums out. He 
then arises unharmed. Boy makes big fire and tells ex-chief it is his turn to go 
into fire to show whether he has any power. Ex-chief goes in and is burned to 
death. Boy now goes from place to place, although mother knows that people 
envious of his power would try to kill him. He hears three men talking about him 
and determines to visit them. They welcome him and ask him to go into lodge. 
He goes in first and then stands near door, which is very small, and kills the three 
men as they enter, one at a time. He hears of Snow-and-Cold, who lives far away 
in the north and whose visitors, if they stay over night, are frozen before morning. 
He starts to visit him and sails over lake on eagle feather he wears on his head. 
Geese on other side of water make noise, when any one crosses, to warn Snow-and- 
Cold's people. They do not see Medicine-Screech-Owl, who goes to Snow-and- 
Cold's lodge and finds him asleep. Medicine-Screech-Owl speaks and Snow-and- 
Cold looks around, but can see no one. Finally, boy shows himself and tells Snow- 
and-Cold he has heard so much of that place he has come on visit. In evening 



Il8 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

Suow-and-Cold tells boy to sleep on bed of snow. He watches boy and sees light 
near his head. Boy has feather sticking straight up on pillow. Snow-and-Cold arises 
and punches snow in place that seems like fireplace with cane, and fire springs out. 
When he has warmed himself he covers fire and goes back to bed. Soon boy does 
same thing. In morning Snow-and-Cold calls to boy to get up. He thinks boy 
has been frozen to death, but he jumps up and says he has had fine sleep. After 
talking to Snow-and-Cold, boy goes back home. 

20. MEDICINE-SCREECH-OWL. 

Beautiful girl, who had no male acquaintance, becomes pregnant. She can not 
explain it. She goes with other girls to dig potatoes, but can never find any. She 
hears voice cry, " Mother," and it is that of child in womb. It tells her where to 
dig and she finds many large potatoes. Child is born, and at his own request is 
called Medicine-Screech-Owl. Child grows rapidly, plaj-s with other children and 
goes to watch them fish. He tries and catches big fish. Soon he acquires fame as a 
fisherman. Persons begin to fear him, and employ powerful medicine-man to kill 
him. One day while fishing he sees reflection of big cloud iu water and knows 
medicine-man's intention to send Thunder to try to kill him. He walks into water, 
and when Thunder and Lightning come he raises bow over his head and Lightning 
rolls into water. This occurs again and again, and medicine-man, realizing that 
boy has more power over Thunder than he has, gives up. Long afterward, while 
resting in lodge, boy thinks something is going to happen to liini. He gets his 
bow and arrows, lays on bed, and sings. Soon he hears great noise and he knows 
that medicine-man is .sending cannibal monster to destroy him. He hears its roar 
and feels its hot breath and it leaps on his tipi and falls through. Then he arises and 
kills it. Afterward Medicine-Screech-Owl goes from place to place killing mon- 
sters and ferocious animals and healing sick. Where he is, death can not come. 
He heals sick by touch of his hand. Finally he tells people he is going to leave 
them, and disappears. 

21. THE ORPHAN BOY WHO BECAME A WRESTLER. 

Boy lives with old grandfather, who dies before he can teach boy to hunt. Boy 
begs from lodge to lodge, and at night returns to his lodge and cries. Boys come 
and tease him. He is brave, and when larger he makes bows and arrows and goes 
to hunt small game and has no longer to beg. When in timber he hears voice call- 
ing him. Strange boy comes and they play together. They try to see which is 
stronger, and orphan boy easily throws stranger. Orphan boy can not understand 
it. Strange boy says he is strong man and has given boy his power ; that he is now 
one of stronge-st men in world. Stranger disappears and next morning boy starts 
to hunt. He kills three deer and starts home with them. Load is heavy and he 
can not go fast. At night he hears voice and sees stranger again. He goes with 
stranger to place where his friends meet to wrestle. He wrestles and throws every 
one. They fear him and leave him with stranger. Strong man tells boy how to 
use his power and then disappears. Boy returns home and soon afterward boys 
have wrestling match. Young man calls him to come into ring. .\t first he declines. 
On second call he runs into ring and .soon throws man and kills him. Others are 
afraid of his strength. People hear of his deeds, and soon he has respect and fear 
of all. 



ABSTRACTS. 119 

22. THE DANGEROUS WATER MONSTER. 

Man goes to creek to get water. He sees large animal like snake. It is moving 
slowly, and man runs two miles up creek before he comes to its head. He goes 
home and tells grandfather. He calls people together and tells them. They 
wonder whether it is good or evil omen. Old and blind man is sent for, and after 
a while he says sign is very bad, as it signifies waters will rise. Soon waters rise 
and form large lake. Lake is very dangerous. When crossing it no word must 
be said. Four men hunt on other side of lake. They start back and cross lake 
•without making any noise. When near opposite shore one man, to try it, talks 
very loud. Lake rises and drowns all men but one who warned man not to talk. 
He calls others and they search for bodies. Two are found, but body of man who 
made noise can not be found. 

23. SLAYING THE MONSTERS BY FIRE. 

In olden times world was full of wild animals who ate people. Coyote calls 
council to see what can be done with them. It is decided to set fire to grass and 
burn wild animals and everything on earth. White-Headed-Hawk and Crow are 
sent to Star to say that people are coming to his house to live. Star says there is 
room for peojile if they can get up there. Long rope of soapweed is made, and 
White-Headed-Hawk and Crow fly up with it and give end to Star, who puts end 
under big stone. Rope is so long it reaches to earth. Graj' and Black Snakes 
carry fire over worM. When fire comes near, people begin to climb rope. Then 
wild animals come and begin to climb up. Bat is sent to cut rope just above wild 
animals. Bat chews rope and rope breaks, letting all wild animals down. Many 
are killed. Bat goes down and sees immense animal on ground, and all others 
crawling into it to escape fire. Bat pulls hairs out of animal's nose. Animal 
sneezes and blows all other animals out and they burn to death. Bat tells people 
all bad wild animals are killed, and they come down rope again. 

24. SLAYING THE MONSTERS BY FIRE. 

In beginning some animals live with human beings and are friendly ; others are 
strong and dangerous. Grass is taller than trees are now, and wild animals prowl 
through it. Morning-Star in council of people says only way to kill all dangerous 
animals is to burn grass all over world. Fire is man to do work, and Morning- 
Star appoints two men to assist him, Black-Snake, the fastest runner in the world, 
and Skunk, the slowest. Fire puts fire on end of Black-Snake's tail and between 
toes of Skunk's hind foot. They start in east, one going north, other south, to 
meet in west. People make rope of soapweeds to reach the sky. Pigeon goes 
up into sk}' to see when fire approaches. When rope finished. Crow takes rope 
and fastens it firmly to sky. .■\s fire approaches, people begin to climb up rope. 
Bad animals get hold of rope and it moves upward. People send Bat, who has 
sharp teeth, to cut rope. Finally it breaks and lets bad animals fall down. Bat 
follows and sees animal so large he has room for all bad animals. These go in 
and Bat follows. He pulls hair from animal's nose. It sneezes and throws all 
animals out through nose. Animals are burned. Bat flies up to people, but is 
scorched, becoming yellowish. People return to world again, and ever since it has 
been good place to live upon. 



I20 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

25. HOW THE BUFFALO CEASED TO EAT HUMAN BEINGS. 

At first Buflalo ate human beings. They were many-colored and were so numer- 
ous that men dared not go on plain alone. Buzzard is only man who has power to 
go in midst of them and kill them without being hurt. Other people live in vil- 
• lages and hunt together. Some men hunting turkey and deer, while crossing 
prairie, see black cloud coming and know it is great herd of Buffalo sweeping down 
upon them. They throw away everything and, running very fast, take refuge in 
dense thicket. People now take courage and venture farther from home. Four 
men go to hunt bear. They trail bear. It runs into open plain and men kill it 
there. They hear noise like thunder and see Buffalo upon tjiem. Buffalo catch all 
but one man, who gains timber and climbs tall tree. Buffalo try to butt it down, 
but can not do so. At night man climbs down and runs home. People hasten to 
place where companions killed, but find only few bones scattered about. Buffalo 
eat many people until Coyote comes. Then people go into another country. Coy- 
ote is last to go through gate, and shuts it, so no dangerous animals can enter. He 
lets through only few Buffalo who have not tasted human flesh and so are not 
dangerous. 

26. THE GIRL WHO HAD POWER TO CALL THE BUFFALO. 

Girl who has power to call Buffalo lives with six brothers. They are stars, and 
every night leave girl to travel through sky. In morning they put girl in swing 
hung from sky and swing her through air. Buffalo see her and come, and boys kill 
all they want. Coyote comes to live with them. Boys tell him to stay, but make him 
promise never to try to swing girl. One day while all brothers gone Coyote makes 
girl get into swing and he pushes her. Buffalo do not come, and he pushes her 
higher and higher, until she disappears. Coyote tells brothers monster has carried 
her off. They drive him away and tell him he and his children shall always be 
hungry. They decide to go to sky and live with their sister. 

27. THE OLD WOMAN WHO KEPT ALL THE PECANS. 

Old woman is mother of pecan trees. She gives few pecans to people who go to 
lodge, but will not let them take any away. People are very hungry and decide some- 
thing must be done. Old man has four little sons who are very troublesome. 
People are field rats and they chose four boys to go to old woman's to steal some 
nuts. One goes to see if old woman is asleep. When she goes to bed and snores 
he goes back home to tell brothers. Then he sees Coyote, who tells rats not to 
trouble about stealing pecans, as next day he will kill old woman. In morning 
Coyote goes to see her, and as she is getting him some pecans. Coyote strikes her 
on head with stone knife and kills her. Old woman dies, and ever since pecan 
trees grow everywhere. 

2S. COWARD, THE SON OF THE MOON. 

When people first come out of earth, little boy is taken out by grandparents who 
are poor. Boy is fed by other boys and grows rapidly. He becomes successful 
hunter. His grandparents die and boy wanders away into timber to mourn. Man 
comes and embraces him. He is Moon, and says he will be boy's father, watch 
over him, and give him power. Boy goes home and weeps no more. Girl comes 
and asks to become his wife, and they live together. Wife sees husband has great 



ABSTRACTS. I 2 I 

power. Woman asks him to watch her child, who is asleep, while she goes to get 
water. When she has gone he wakes child up and cuts its leg off. When she 
returns child is dead, and young man is playing with leg. She calls people, and 
they come and kill young man. He comes out of grave aud looks just the same as 
before he was killed. All men go on war-path except Coward, as people call him. 
When asked by chief why he does not go, he takes war club and goes out to fight. 
Arrows fly off from him and enemies see he can not be killed. Men run, and he 
kills many with war clubs. Next day he is sick, and vomits all arrow-heads that 
have pierced his body. He bathes and is well. Many years after he tells people 
Moon is his father. Then he arises and goes up to Moon. 

29. THE FIRST WAR PARTY. 

When people came into world they were divided into groups, and each group 
was given different name. Tribes began to fight each other, and Caddo fought 
Kiowa and Comanche. Caddo gather in council and chief sends errand-man to 
call all young men. Chief asks all who want to fight other tribes to sit in circle. 
Chief lays large buffalo hide in center of circle. He gives each man stick, and 
they beat hide with sticks and sing war song. They sing until Morning-Star drives 
other stars away. Chief aud assistants go ahead to choose good place near water 
for camp. At dawn men march out, continuing war song, to place where they wait 
until noon, so that others who decide late may join party. While they are eating, 
chief makes speech, giving them rules for their conduct. They march by day and 
camp at night, chief in advance. When near enemy's country chief appoints four 
men as spies to go in all directions. They go on until they find enemy, and fight 
them, but scalp only one to show they have been victorious. When battle is over 
warriors leave and do as they please. Word is sent home, and people deck them- 
selves with paint and feathers and go to meet war party. Scalp is put on pole and 
young men race for it. When they arrive at home all join in war dance. 

30. THE POWER OF THE CYCLONE. 

As boy sits on bank of river resting after his morning bath, voice speaks to him. 
He sees nothing, but, after gazing into water for long time, he sees man slowly 
rising to surface. Man comes and tells him to dive into water four times and to 
always face west. He does so, and man says he is power of Cyclone, but is grow- 
ing old and his strength is going, and he has come to give boy his power. He tells 
boy to swing his arms about. He swings his arms and black cloud rolls up, aud 
as he throws his arms farther, wind breaks from cloud and passes through forest, 
tearing up trees by roots and tossing waters in fury. At last man tells him to 
stand still, and boy drops his arms breathless aud panting with exertion. Man 
tells him he has received power which he is to exercise only in spring, and calls 
him "Path-of-the-CycIone." Then man disappears. Years after people see boy 
carried through air to sky on cyclone. 

31. HOW THE CANNIBAL WAS DESTROYED. 

Three men out hunting come to large tree on which .something has been climb- 
ing. Near the base is large hole. Thinking bear is in hole, they thrust into it 
bundle of burning leaves and grass. Finally strange animal peeps from hole, and 
it is cannibal. Men run, and cannibal scents their tracks and follows them. 
9D 



122 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

He overtakes one man, kills him, and carries him back to tree. He returns and 
overtakes second man, whom he kills and carries back. Third man is almost over- 
taken, but Mountain-Lion lies in wait for cannibal, seizes him by throat, and kills 
him. When man gets home he tells people what has happened. Cannibal's body 
is eaten by white and black wolves, and when people go they find nothing but his 
bones. They go to tree where cannibal lived, cut it down, and find two bodies, 
which they bury. 

32 THE YOUNG MEN AND THE CANNIBALS. 

Ten boys live with grandmother. Oldest goes hunting and does not return. 
Next day one of his brothers goes to look for him. He does not return, and next 
brother goes in search of him, and so on until ninth boy goes, leaving little brother 
at home with grandmother. At last youngest boy goes in search of brothers, 
putting eagle feather in his hair. After looking far, boy sees tipi and hears voice 
referring to him as meat. Old man comes out and asks if he is looking for his 
brothers. He says he will put him on path to find them, but boy must first do 
some work for him. He tells boy to put log on fire He is to have four trials, and 
if he fails he is to lie on log and let man lift it. Boy can not move log, and lays 
down on it. Old man is about to spear him with iron nose of mask he wears, when 
unseen power pulls boy ofl log, and iron nose catches in log and holds man fast. 
Voice tells boy to take pounder from woman who is pounding corn and beat old 
man to death. Boy obeys, and, when old man dead, voice tells him to gather up 
his brothers' bones and put them in nine piles. Strange man appears and helps 
him, and then tells him to put his robe over bones, shoot arrow up in sky, and tell 
brothers to look out lest arrow hits them. Boy does so, and brothers jump out 
from under robe. Man tells them to burn tipi with man and his wife and scatter 
ashes. Man then says he is Sim and has helped them to destroy cannibals. Then 
he disappears. They return home to grandmother and tell story. People then 
know that Sun is their friend and willing to help them. 

33. COYOTE AND THE SIX BROTHERS. 

Old woman has seven sons. They are good hunters. One day oldest son goes to 
hunt and does not return. Several days after, his dogs come back, but he does not. 
This happens to six sons in turn. Mother will not let youngest son go. Long 
time afterward he sees Raccoon in tree. He chases it, and it leads him far into 
timber. It runs down hollow tree, and he climbs tree to get it out. Old woman tells 
him to throw Raccoon down, and she and his dogs will kill it. He throws Raccoon 
down and she kills it and one of dogs. Then she says there is another Raccoon in 
tree. He pulls it out and throws il down. She kills it and another of his dogs. 
This happens until he has pulled six Raccoons out of tree. As boy is about to pull 
seventh Raccoon out, it tells him to throw it as far as he can. While old woman is 
c basing him, boy is to run home as fast as possible, as old woman is witch and has 
killed all his brothers. He does so. When old woman finds boy is gone she starts 
after him, but can not catch him. That night boy dreams that he meets Coyote, 
who tells him his brothers are not dead, but are working for bad people and will 
soon die if they do not get aw.iy. Coyote promises to help him to rescue them. 
N ext day he meets man, who tells him something. Man goes on and meets Flying- 
Squirrel, who is one of bad people's slaves. Coyote asks him about six brothers 



ABSTRACTS. 123 

aud hears they are slaves. Coyote says lie would like to help them, and Flying- 
Squirrel suggests that wicked chief be killed. Flying-Squirrel carries Coyote 
across river hanging to his tail. Coyote lets go of tail and falls into river. He 
hides until he thinks of plan. Then he turns into corn mill and floats out on 
water. Woman persuades chief to get it, although he is suspicious. Woman uses 
mill, but one day all corn is sour. She tells chief, who says mill is Coyote. Chief 
has it placed on big log to spear it with his long, spiked nose. His nose sticks in 
log and corn mill turns into Coyote. Coyote knows chief and tells slaves to kill 
him. Slaves are free and brothers return home. Afterward when killing game 
they leave some for Coyote. 

34. THE DEATH OF THE CANNIBAI^. 

People of \'illage Tall-Timber-on-Top-of-Hill decide to move to another. Young 
woman whose husband is dead gives birth to baby and has to stay until she can 
carry child. She remains in deserted village manj' daj-s. One night she hears 
some one outside and strange voice begs admission. She lets man in and he says 
he is Spotted- Wolf. He says he has come to beg her not to start on journey too 
soon, for tliere are manj- dangerous animals in way. She says she is lonely and 
wants to go to her people. Spotted- Wolf then gives her some tobacco and tells her 
if she meets danger and needs help to throw some of it to four directions and call 
to him ; then he will come aud help her. After few days woman starts with baby 
on her back, .-^fter traveling three days she sees in her way cannibal. She is 
much frightened and takes tobacco and throws it to four directions, praying that 
Spotted-Wolf would come. Soon big spotted wolves come from four directions 
and kill cannibal. Wolf from south conducts woman and child safely to her people. 
Another kind of cannibal lives as human being and eats dead people. They pre- 
tend to be sick when they hear of one who is about to die, aud when he dies they 
pretend to die and are buried. In night they jump out of graves aud steal dead 
person before spirits can take him away. An old medicine-man watches one of these 
beings for long time. Then he pretends to be very sick and spreads news that he 
is about to die. Soon he hears that watched person is sick, and then he pretends 
to die, first telling his sons to put bow and arrows in his grave and not to put much 
earth over him when buried. Person pretends to die also and is buried. At night 
he jumps out of grave and goes to get medicine-man. Medicine-man hears him 
and jumps out of his grave aud shoots an arrow through cannibal and kills him. 
Ever since bows and arrows are put in graves with dead, that they may shoot can- 
nibal. 

35. THE MAN WHO MADE ARROWS FOR GHOST. 

Two men hunt all day without finding anything. They stay in timber to hunt 
next day and go to sleep. They are awakened by voice whooping. One man is 
frightened and runs away. Other man stays, and soon dead person comes and 
asks if he can help him get into spirit land. He wants bow-string and two arrows. 
Man makes arrows and puts new string on bow. Dead person shoots arrows and 
goes up with them. He whoops to let man know that arrows have carried him 
up all right. Ever since baws aud arrows are always made and buried with dead, 
that they may go to spirit land at once. 



124 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

36. THE LAZY BOYS WHO BECAME THE PLEIADES. 

In beginning of world lives old woman with seven sons. They are full of fun 
and play all day long. They will not work, and eat only in morning and evening. 
Mother scolds them, and one evening will not give them anything to eat. Boys 
are angry, and next morning they go to playground and go around and around 
house, praying to Spirits to help them. With every round they rise higher and 
higher in air, and at last go up to sky, where they are "The Pleiades." These 
stars are seen during winter, but at beginning of spring, at work time, the}' are gone. 

37. THE LOST TIMBER SPIRITS. 

When world is new. Coyote decides that people dying return to earth after ten 
days. Finally he makes rule that if anybody dies and is buried within six days he 
shall stay under ground. If not buried by seventh day he may escape. If caught 
he is to be brought home. Fire is to be kindled all around him, and after being 
kept at home six days and nights lie is to be washed by some old woman and he 
becomes real person again. At death body is laid in hole, head toward east and 
feet toward west. Fire is made at feet and kept up six days and nights. If fire 
goes out grave is found open and tracks seen toward east. When they follow 
tracks and overtake dead person, fire is built all around him until he tries to escape 
sparks. He is then coming to life again and is taken home, and in evening of sixth 
day bathed and will then live again. When dead person not caught he becomes 
like large monkey and lives in the thickets. These monkeys talk to people and 
they are thought to be crazy. When people meet them they always ask for wrestling 
match. They are still li\-ing, but do not talk as they did when world was new. 

38. THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE. 

Two boys go hunting. One of them kills snake and eats snake meat instead of 
buffalo. He turns into snake and tells friend to find hole for him to live in. 
Friend carries snake to hole. Snake tells him that when people go to hunt they 
are to offer presents to him and he will help them. Snake lives there many years 
until lightning kills him. 

39. THE WOMAN WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE. 

Man has wife and dog. At that time animals talk, and dog talks to man and 
woman. Every day man goes to hunt, and as soon as he has gone woman goes out 
and does not return until evening. Dog tells husband, and he says dog is to follow 
woman next time. Dog does so and sees woman go to large tree and whistle three 
times. Third time big snake comes from large hole in tree, goes to woman, and 
coils round her body. Finally it goes back to hole. Dog tells man, and next day 
he makes many arrows and tells wife that he and dog are going fishing. Instead 
of fishing they go to place where snake is. Man whistles three times and snake 
creeps out. When it reaches ground man shoots and kills it. He then cuts it into 
very small pieces to look like pieces of fish. They go to river and catch few small 
fish. Man tells wife he is going to cook fish and she is to go in grass house. Man 
cooks fish and snake flesh. He then takes snake flesh to wife for her dinner. He 
and dog eat fish. Man sends dog to see what wife is doing and he sees she is 
eating snake. Second time dog sees she is scratching herself all over. When she 
scratches, skin turns color of snake skin, until finally .she turns into snake. She 



ABSTRACTS. 125 

creeps away from grass lodge and goes to find snake. Some time after, when out 
hunting, man hears voice inside large tree and large snake comes out of tree. He 
knows it is his wife, but he passes on. 

40. THE GIRLS WHO WANTED TO MARRY THE CHIEF. 

Two twin daughters hear of chief in another village and obtain parents' conBent 
to go and offer themselves in marriage to him. They start in search of chief's 
village. They meet man with turkey and tell him. He says he is chief, and is 
willing, but asks them to wait until he runs home and tells his grandmother. 
Man is Owl. He runs home and tells grandmother to clean up lodge, as he is 
bringing home two girls on whom he is playing joke. In morning she is to ask 
which turkey she is to cook, that girls may think there are many turkeys and good 
things to eat. Owl goes for girls, who are pleased with things, and marry Owl. 
Every day he comes in with turkey ; as he goes to council and chief gives him 
turkey for allowing him to sit on his back. Finally twins grow weary of turkey 
and begin to suspect. They follow Owl and peep through opening in grass lodge 
and see Owl sitting in middle with chief on his head. Girls scream. Owl recog- 
nizes their voices, jumps up, throwing chief off his head, and runs home. He 
scolds grandmother for lettiug girls follow him, and they slip off and return home. 
Owl, angry at being fooled by his own joke, tells grandmother they must kill 
people. They gather all water by digging big hole and draining waters out from 
all rivers, springs, and lakes. Water is all gone, and people are dying of thirst, 
while Owl is splashing about in big hole. Every one goes in search of water. 
Crow, who was snow white then, comes to field where grass is all withered and big 
grasshoppers are jumping about. He runs after them, and makes so much noise 
that people think he has found water. They run in great haste, and are so augry 
with Crow for fooling them that Coyote rolls him in black earth until he is black. 
Coyote makes rule that if any one makes loud noise and arouses people's expec- 
tations he must either lead them to water or take hard whipping. Turtle falls in 
great crack in dried mud and halloos for help. People run, thinking he has found 
water, and Coyote takes him out of crack and gives him so hard a whipping that 
his shell cracks. Turtles still bear marks of cracks on their shells. Some one 
hears big splashing noise. He goes on and comes to hole where Owl sits playing 
in water. He tells people, and they consider how they can get water from Owl. 
Flea goes to Owl's lodge and enters as his grandmother is about to take bath. 
She has big jar full of water in front of her. Flea crawls up her leg and bites her. 
She gives big kick and upsets jar. When Owl sees water running in all directions 
he opens eyes wide in astonishment, and they have been that way ever since. All 
people are grateful to Flea. Coyote puts him on his back that he may have warm 
home. 

41. THE POOR HUNTER AND THE ALLIGATOR POWER. 

Hunters go on two months' hunt and take their wives with them. Among them 
are a poor man and wife who are starving. Poor man hunts day after day, but 
returns without anything. One day, after hunting all morning, he hears some 
one calling him. He goes and sees person who wants to find water. When hunter 
tells him there is water short distance off, unknown person asks man to carry him. 
He does so, and when they reach water person tells hunter to take off clothes and 
to get on his back. Man shuts eyes, and when he opens them he sees heads of all 



126 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

kinds of animals. Unknown person tells man to point out heads of animals he 
•wants to kill. He does so, and person, who is called Alligator, gives him powers, 
and when he is again on dry land tells him to go bunting. He kills four big deer, 
dresses them, and goes to camp. He takes his wife, ^vith two horses, and finds 
deer, which he puts on horses. Everybody wonders when they see horses loaded 
with meat. After that, man never fails to bring back much meat when out hunt- 
ing. When people start back home, they find that man they had made fun of is 
most successful of all hunters. They name him Deer-Head, because of his bravery 
in killing big deer. After many years he disappears, and his younger brother 
says some one came during night and took him away home. Long time afterward 
hunter shoots large deer, which walks very slowly, and after going over hill calls 
to him to come on . Man starts back home and people think Deer-Head has changed 
into deer. 

42. THE BOY WHO MARRIED A MOUNTAIN-LION. 

Little boy tells parents he is Red-Mountain-Lion, and they so call him. He be- 
comes a successful hunter. Once he acts queerly when he returns from hunt, and 
next time brother follows him. He tracks him to mountain cave, where he sees 
brother with female mountain-lion. When Red-Mountain-Lion comes home he 
acts stranger than ever. Hearing some one talking about going to kill mountain- 
lion in cave, he starts off alone to hunt. When men come to cave they see foot- 
prints of man and mountain-lion leading away from it. Man does not return to 
his people, but years afterward he is captured by hunting party and is carried 
home, where he stays. He and brother form war party, and he goes off to get 
power. He iinds rattlesnake skin and mountain-lion's tail. He takes them ard 
prays to rattlesnake and mounlain-lion for their powers. War expedition is given 
up and man neglects to throw away skin and tail. Long time afterward Red- 
Mountain-Lion one morning hears turkey cackling. He goes to catch it and hears 
rattlesnakes by his side. As he does not return, brother goes for him. He is 
found unconscious and scalped. Tracks of mountain-lion are found. Medicine- 
man comes and tells brother to return animal's gifts to the woods, where Red- 
Mountain-Lion had found them. Man obej-s, and then takes brother to creek and 
bathes him. Red-Mountain-Lion recovers, but is always foolish. He becomes 
more foolish in old age and does many evil things, and so is killed. 

43. BUFFALO WOMAN. 

Cannibal has handsome son who will not marry. He is called Braveness for his 
bravery in hunting. He goes hunting and sees young and beautiful woman sitting 
under elm tree. She calls him and says she has come to meet him. She asks him 
to take her to his home to be his wife. They start for his home at once, and old 
people let girl become son's wife. They live happily together for long time. 
Then girl asks him to do whatever she asks. When he promises, she asks him to 
go with her to her home. They .start, and when they come to high hills, she says 
her home is on other side, and that people will bother him, but he is not to get 
angry. If he does, young men will kill him, as they are jealous of him. She then 
asks him to lay on ground and roll over twice. He does so, and is changed into 
Buffalo. Then woman does same, and becomes Buffalo. When they reach top of 
hill, they see thousands of Buffalo. They are woman's people. Braveness follows 
woman until they come to old Buffalo cow, her mother. They stay long time, and 



ABSTRACTS. . I27 

as young Buffalo bother Braveness, they go back to his home. On way they 
become human again. Woman asks man to say nothing about transformation. 
They stay at home a year, and then decide to go and see woman's mother. After 
living with Buffalo long time, wife tells husband old people are thiuking of killing 
him. He is to run in foot race. He is worried and goes out for walk. Unknown 
person tells him if he is beaten at running, he is to be killed, and so he is going to 
help him to win. He gives Braveness medicine root, which he is to throw behind 
him when one catches up with him, and he will leave him long way behind. Then 
he gives liraveness mud to throw behind him when second man overtakes him, 
after which he will soon be at stopping place. There person will meet him. Next 
day is day of race. Old Buffalo takes him to place where runners start. Youug 
Buffalo make fun of him, but he places himself in their midst. Braveness leaves 
Buffalo long way behind at start, but they gain on him. He throws root, and he 
is far ahead again. He gives out and one Buffalo gains on him. He throws mud, 
and he is far ahead again. When nearing goal Buffalo is about to catch up with 
him, when heav}^ wind comes up and keeps Buffalo back until he reaches goal and 
wins race. He knows it is Wind who has saved his life. After race, no one 
molests him again. Afterward he and wife go to live with his people. When 
child year old, they go again to see wife's people. They remain three years, and 
then return to Braveness' home. Mother will not let child go out to play with 
other boys. He slips away and joins boys. They play buffalo, and when little 
boy rolls over twice, he gets up real buffalo calf. Boys run, and mother seeing 
them, goes out and finds sou changed into buffalo calf. She runs down hill with 
him, becomes buffalo, and they run away before husband comes from hunting. 
He can not find his wife and son, and some one tells him what has happened. He 
does not believe story until he sees their tracks. He never hears of them again. 

44. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED WILD-CAT. 

Beautiful girl refuses attention of young men. Handsome youth comes and 
talks with father and brother, but pays no attention to her. Girl dreams of him 
when asleep ; sees him coming to her. She awakes and hears faint noise. She 
closes eyes and prays that dream may come true. She opens eyes and young man 
is bending over her. He begs her to go with him and she does so. When long 
way from home man tells her he is Wild-Cat, but she refuses to go back. They 
climb high mountain, and Wild-Cat leaves girl to fetch his grandfather Wild-Cat. 
Girl's brothers overtake them, and want to fight Wild-Cats, who are dressed like 
men. Sister cries and promises brothers she will soon return home. They go back 
and father is very angrj'. He goes in search of daughter and wanders about until 
he dies. 

45. THE WOMAN WHO TRIED TO KILL HER SON. 

Abut has wife and boy seven years old. He is always hunting. Wife dislikes 
boy and abuses him. She digs deep hole and throws him in, putting brush over 
it. Abut returns and asks for son. She .says she has been looking for him all 
day. The)' look for him several days and can not find him. Boy grows hungry 
and cries. Coyote comes, helps him out of hole, and takes him to Coyote's home. 
He remains several years ; then he tells Coyote he wants to go and see his father. 
He says he will tell father what happened, and that they will go on buffalo hunt, 
and that Coyote and family are to kill mother when she brings them meat. Coyote 
lets boy go home. He tells father what he is going to do with mother. Next day 



128 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

they go hunting and kill buffalo. While woman is cooking supper they hear 
Coyotes howling. After supper boy tells mother to get meat and come with him 
to feed Coyotes. She carries meat on back. When near Coyotes, boy pushes her 
down and Coyotes jump upon her. Father and son live together many years. 

46. THE JEALOUS HUSBAND. 

People go on war-path and spies are sent out to locate enemy. Leader chooses 
for spies two who are very close friends and always go together. One is married 
and other single. One day they come to high hill. They climb it and find on top 
big hole, like well, with water. Married man tells friend to go down in hole to get 
some water. He descends on long bufTalo-hide rope. Instead of pulling him up 
again his friend throws rope into hole and goes away. He starts for camp and 
tells head man that his friend was killed by enemy who pursued them. Camp 
therefore breaks up and people return home. Man in hole asks birds passing over 
to take him out, but they take no notice of him. After nine days Buzzard flies 
over hole and man again asks for help. Bird passes again and again, and fourth 
time lights on ground. He peeps over rim of hole and tells man he will help him 
out, but he must first go for some medicine. Buzzard goes away, but comes back 
anil flies to bottom of hole. He tells man to .shut his eyes and take step forward. 
He is then on back of Buzzard, who flies upward out of hole. Bird twkes man to 
home of Buzzard, and there he remains until he can walk around. Buzzard tells 
him his friend maltreated him because he had been told he was going to take his 
wife away. He then says he is going to take man home, and tells him what to do 
there. They start and Buzzard tells man to shut his e\-es. When near home he 
get.s off Buzzard's back and goes to his lodge. He tells how his friend had beaten 
him and how Buzzard had rescued him. He then sends his si.ster to fetch friend's 
wife. Woman returns with sister and stays with man, refusing to go back to 
former husband. Afterward, whenever they go on buffalo hunt, husband kills 
one buffalo first, cuts it up, and scatters meat ; then he kills another one and 
takes meat home. When aski d why he did that, he will not tell ; but once his 
uncle comes and asks him, and he says he had lived with woman many j-ears and 
when he dies she shall drop dead, too. 

47. THE TURTLE WHO CARRIED THE PEOPLE. 

People travel about looking for village site. They come near big water and see 
what the3' think is large rock. They make village near rock, which they use as 
dancing place. After some time crier announces big dance. While all people are 
dancing on rock it begins to move. They see big head and legs appear from under 
it ; theu they know they are on big turtle. They try to get off', but tlieir feet are 
stuck tight. Turtle carries them iuto water and drowns them. 

48. WHY DOGS HAVE LONG TONGUES. 

When animals were like people, dogs were noted for telling everything they knew. 
Running-Water is great hunter, and wants dog to help him who is not tattler. He 
tries to teach young pup not to talk so much. When big enough, Running-Water 
takes it to hunt small game. Every time man kills game, dog sneaks home and 
tells, returning circuitous way, as though he has been hunting all time. After time 
Running-Water goes for long hunt and takes dog with him. They kill many big 
animals and start for home. Running- Water misses dog and returns to camp for 



ABSTRACTS. 1 29 

him. Dog is not there, and when Running- Water gets home he finds dog. He 
has told many big stories about animals they have killed. Running-Water is very 
angry and gives dog good whipping. He then catches hold of dog's tongue, pulls 
it as hard as he can, and then runs stick across his mouth. Since then dogs have 
long tongues and big mouths. 

49. WHY HAWKS HAVE THIN LEGS. 

Chicken-Hawk is poor hunter. He meets Eagle, and, pretending he has killed 
many big game before, asks him if he will help him to kill antelope. Eagle prom- 
ises on condition he can have half meat. Hawk goes home and tells family he has 
shot antelope in head and is going in morning to kill him. Hawk and Eagle go 
hunting together and find antelope in mountain. Eagle kills it and they divide 
meat. Hawk takes meat home and tells family he has given part of meat to poor 
hunter who had never tasted antelope. Family tell every one what good hunter 
Hawk is. Friend visits him to see if reports true. Hawk hunts all day and returns 
with only mouse, which friend refuses to eat. He hunts next day and can not find 
anything. He is so ashamed that he cuts meat off of his legs to take home for 
friend to eat. This is why hawks have no meat on their legs. 

50. THE POWERS OF BUFFALO AND BEAR. 

Once, when animals understood one another, Bear and Buffalo met. They told 
each other of their powers. Bear says he was once human being and went with 
people. One night he dreamed that he became Bear and that human being was 
pursuing him and shooting him with arrows. When he awoke he found all was 
true. He left people and began new life in mountains and woods. Buffalo then 
speaks and says he, too, was like human being. His people were called Buffalo 
after oldest chief. When people began to enter this world Buffalo people were 
forbidden to enter, because some one had made mistake. They found out it was 
Coyote, and they prayed that Father would give him powers, so that he could 
enter world and take them along. They had to change into wild animals, and for 
love of people to be their game. Then they were given powers to be dangerous 
and horns to fight with. Then Bear a.sks Buffalo to show what he does when he 
wants to hurt or kill any one. Buffalo watches him, and before he knows what 
has happened he is falling to ground and Buffalo is coming at him again. Buffalo 
asks Bear if he saw him when he first started after him. He says, "No," and 
Buffalo asks him to show how he uses his powers. Bear walks back and forth 
looking at Buffalo with angry eyes, then moves slowly toward small tree, which he 
grabs and cuts down with his sharp teeth, and before Buffalo knows, Bear is upon 
him, and he is trying to get up from ground. Bear holds him down until he is 
ready to give up. When Bear lets him go they part and go to their homes. 

SI. HOW RABBIT STOLE MOUNTAIN-LION'S TEETH. 

Rabbit, in absence of grandmother, goes to house of Mountain-Lion. He is not 
at home. Rabbit finds Mountain-Lion's teeth and takes them home. Rabbit tells 
grandmother Mountain-Lion will come after his teeth and they must fool him. He 
tells her to build fire outside of door and put on it kettle of water, and to put some 
stones into water and boil them. When Mauntain-Lion comes she is to tell him 
that she is boiling stones for " Chief of all the beasts," who is Rabbit's guest. 
Mountain-Lion comes, and when he hears what grandmother says, he runs away as 
fast as he can. 



130 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

52. RABBIT AND THE DANCING TURKEYS. 

Rabbit and Wild-Cat meet and begin to figbt. To save his own life, Rabbit says 
he will show Wild-Cat how to catch Turkeys. He tells him to stand still while he 
sings Turkey dance song. Rabbit sings, and then tells Wild-Cat to lie down and 
pretend to be dead. Turkeys hear song and come to see what it is about. Rabbit 
tells them he has killed Wild-Cat and they are to dance victory song. Turkeys dance 
and Wild-Cat jumps up and grabs big Turkey. As he does so Rabbit runs away and 
escapes. 

S3. ADVENTURES OF COYOTE. 

In beginning of world people held councils to decide about things. Question 
comes up, what kind of rain there shall be. Rain in form of lead balls is proposed. 
Coyote objects, as lead would be dangerous, and suggests drops of water. This is 
accepted. Coyote goes traveling and comes to place where great powerful Bear 
lives. Bear says if he is Coyote he will kill him. Coyote pretends to be son of 
powerful medicine-man. Bear decides to kill him, and Coyote tells Bear to wait 
until his father sees him. This is at sunrise, when Sun peeps over hill. Coyote 
says Bear can kill him, as father is watching him. Bear thinks Coyote must be 
great man and becomes frightened. He gives Coyote many things to eat. Long 
after. Bear discovers that he has been deceived and tries to find Coyote's home to 
kill him, but without success. Coyote moves from place to place and meets 
Mountain-Lion near lake. He tells him he is very hungry, and they go together to 
lake. Mountain-Lion climbs the tree and tells Coyote to hide. Wild horses come 
to water, and Mountain-Lion jumps and kills young horse, which they have for 
dinner. Mountain-Lion teaches Coyote how to kill horse. Next day he does so. 
Mountain-Lion tells him not to try to kill three or four year old horse. Coyote 
leaves his friend and next day goes to lake and thinks he will try to kill largest 
horse. He jumps from tree on large horse, which throws him off and kicks him 
under jaws. Mountain-Lion comes and Coyote asks him what he is laughing 
about. Coyote is not able to move for a long time and then leaves place. He 
hears some one in persimmon tree and finds Opossum eating persimmons. He 
asks Opossum for some, but Opossum laughs at him. While pretending to fall 
from tree, limb breaks and Opossum comes to ground. Coyote gives him good 
beating and leaves him to die. Opossum fools him, and when Coyote goes away 
Opossum climbs tree again and laughs at him. 

54. COYOTE ESCAPES AN IMAGINARY FOE. 

Coyote goes hunting buflfalo. He sees Turkey on top of tall tree and threatens 
to kill him if he does not get down. Turkey starts out toward prairie, as Coyote 
says he has no power to kill anything on prairie. When Turkey comes to ground 
Coyote catches up with him and kills him. While eating Turkey, Coyote looks 
around to .see that no one is watching him. He thinks he sees somebody standing 
behind him, making motions as if to strike him. He starts to run, every now and 
then looking back to see if he is out of reach. He thinks he sees man right after 
him, ready to hit him, and runs with all his might. Coyote was given power at tjegin- 
ning of world to run without decreasing his running powers. He has run eight 
times, and ninth time he runs farther than usual. Again he looks around and 
thinks he sees man about to hit him. When running tenth time his powers are 
decreasing, and he dodges from right to left to fool man. Coyote gives out when 



ABSTRACTS. I3I 

running twelfth time. He turns on his back and begs not to be killed. He falls 
over on his face and hears something crack. It is turkey feather, which had stuck 
between his teeth and is nearly straight up above his right eye. He finds he has 
been fooled by turkey feather and is very angry. Ever since he has looked wild, 
and when he runs first looks around to right and then to left to .see if anybody is 
near him. When he reaches home Coyote says he has killed Mountain-Lion. 

55. COYOTE GOES FISHING. 

Coyote goes hunting along river and meets man carrying fish. Coyote asks him 
how he got fish. Man, who has been tricked by Coyote, tells him to go to edge of 
river in evening and stay until he comes to see him. Coyote goes and finds man 
waiting for him. Man tells Coyote to sit by edge of water while he breaks ice. 
Coyote does as man tells him and sits by bank fishing all night. Water freezes on 
Coyote's tail, and in morning he can not move. Man comes and asks if he is 
catching any fish. Coyote says he thinks he has caught two or three, and asks man 
to help him to laud them. Man reminds Coyote of his trickery and tells Coyote 
he is going to kill him. Coyote denies trickery and offers to go and bring one that 
man is looking for. Man goes to lodge for bow aud arrows, and on return sings 
death song, and then shoots and kills Coyote. 

56. COYOTE HUNTS GEESE. 

Coyote once man. People dislike him and call him coward, as he is always try- 
ing to cheat some one. He visits his best friend and finds he has been feasting on 
white geese. Coyote asks friend where he got them. Friend tells him to come 
back in evening and he will show him where geese come. Wlien Coj'ote is out 
of sight, friend carries ashes from fire and forms them in shape of geese near lake. 
Just before evening he goes and puts coals under ashes. Coals burn up, but fire 
can not be seen from outside. When Coyote comes they go to place, friend taking 
lead. He pretends not to .see first pile of ashes. When Coj-ote sees it he prepares 
to jump, and friend laughs. Coyote pays no attention, but jumps on pile of hot 
ashes and burns himself. He runs away, but is burned so badly that he runs until 
he kills himself. 

57. COYOTE IMIT.-VTES HIS HOST. 

In old days, when animals talked and visited each other. Coyote and Raven were 
great friends. Coyote, weary of hunting without success, goes to Raven, who 
has control of buffalo. Raven, seeing Coyote sad and silent, shoots arrow into air 
and waits for it to come down. It pierces him under right arm. He draws arrow 
out, and with it comes buffalo meat and fat. He gives meat to Coyote, who eats 
heartily. Before he goes he invites Raven to visit him. Coyote makes bow and 
arrows and puts them away until Raven comes. Raven pays Coyote visit. .T.fter 
talking. Coyote says he has no food, but will soon have some. He takes bow and 
arrow; shoots arrow into sky. When it comes down it strikes him in thigh. He 
runs away, screaming with pain. After waiting a while Raven goes home without 
any meat, but much amused at Coyote's performance. Coyote's friends wonder what 
has become of him, but he grows very hungry, and not finding any food he goes to 
visit Blnck-Mountain-Bear. Bear rej;rets to have no food, but leans against persim- 
mon tree and ripe fruit falls to ground. Coyote eats man)', and before going insists 
that Bear come to see him. Coyote can not find persimmon tree with fruit on it. 



132 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

He cuts down tree without fruit and takes it home, where he sets it up. He then 
takes persimmons he has stolen from Bear's home and others he finds and places 
them all over tree as though they have grown there. Black-Mountain-Bear goes 
to visit Coj-ote, who bumps head against tree, but persimmons will not fall. Finally 
he arises and gives tree big shake with hands, and it falls over, hitting him on 
head. He pretends not to be hurt and gathers up fruit for Bear. Bear can hardly 
swallow for laughing, as Coyote's head keeps getting bigger and bigger. Bear soon 
goes, and Coyote holds his sore head, but is happy for having furnished food for 
Bear. 

58. COYOTE IMITATES HIS HOST. 

Coyote, looking out for something to eat, comes to grass lodge. He enters and 
sees man walking about with light on his head. Coyote calls out to him that his 
head is on fire. Man smiles and says he has always worn light, and it will not 
burn anything. Man is Woodpecker. He gives Coyote something to eat. Coyote 
goes, after eating as much as he can, and asks Woodpecker to make him a visit. 
Some time afterward Woodpecker goes to Coyote's lodge and is surprised to see 
im with big bunch of burning straw on his head. Woodpecker tells him to take 
it off, but Coyote .says he always wears it at night. As he finishes speaking, his 
hair catches fire, and he runs out of lodge screaming for help. Woodpecker waits 
for his return, but he does not come. 

59. COYOTE, THE DEER, AND THE WIND. 

Coyote meets Deer, who asks him how he kills his game. Coyote replies he c«n 
kill anything he can lay his hands on. Deer tells Coyote if he can catch Deer he 
may kill and eat him. Coyote tries to catch Deer, but without success. One day, 
after trying to find him asleep, he lays down in grass to take nap. When he 
awakes, he hears some one singing near by. He is frightened and peeps about, but 
sees no one. He hears his name mentioned in song, and jumps up and runs as far 
as he can ; then he drops to die. He hears voice again, and it says that he is Wind, 
and is going to give Coyote power to catch Deer. Coyote arises and barks thanks. 
He starts out to find Deer and travels all day, but can not find him. He comes 
to camp where he steals buffalo robe. He puts robe over him, and goes on to look 
for Deer. He thinks he sees him near river, goes round another way to get close, 
and grabs him. To his surprise, he has man whose robe he has stolen. Man takes 
Coyote home and makes him work for him and his sister, treating him cruelly 
because he has stolen robe. One time while man out hunting. Coyote makes sister 
pack her clothes and go away with him, saying her brother is killed. They start 
for Coyote's home. Coyote goes behind girl, and whenever she stops or falls hits 
her with stick. Man returns, and finds sister and Coyote gone. He starts after 
them and soon catches up with them. He shoots arrow in front of sister. She 
sees it and knows her brother is coming to help her. She cries for joy and Coyote 
whips her, Man goes on hill and .shoots another arrow. Coyote sees man and is 
frightened. He pretends to be kind to girl, and tries to deceive man when he 
comes down hill and asks where Coyote is going with sister. Man makes Coyote 
put bundle of clothes on his back, and tells sister to sit on bundle. He puts bow- 
string through Coyote's mouth and gives ends to girl. She saws string back and 
forth, and man runs alongside of Coyote, whipping him, thus returning home. Man 
is Wind, who has become angry at Coyote for stealing his robe and trying to catch 
Deer with it, instead of waiting for power. 



ABSTRACTS. 133 

60. COYOTE DIVES FOR MEAT. 

Coyote kills big deer, which she hides in, tree while she goes for her children. 
Wild-Cat sees her, and when she has gone, steals meat and climbs tree on bank 
of river. Coyote returns with children, but can not find meat. While children 
are abusing her she sees reflection of meat in water and thinks it is meat. She 
dives into water and reaches for meat, but can not get it. She ties stones about her 
neck and dives again. Coyotes wait long for mother, and after a while they see 
excrement on water and think it is meat. They laugh, and Wild-Cat laughs at 
them. They look up and see Wild-Cat and meat in tree. Wild-Cat tells them 
that mother is drowned. They cry, and Wild-Cat climbs down and gives little 
Coyotes all they want to eat and takes them home. He cares for them until they 
are grown. 

61. COYOTE, THE GEESE, AND THE WOODPECKERS. 

Coyote, returning home after unsuccessful hunt, hears laughing and playing. 
He runs over hill, and on other side is big lake, with several white geese playing 
on surface. Coyote watches them from bushes until he thinks of plan whereby he 
can catch them. He limps out from bushes, pretending he has been hurt. Geese 
hear him and swim out into water. One then asks Coyote what is the matter, and he 
answers that he will be killed if he does not get across water, and then all rivers 
and lakes will dry up. Geese know that Coyote is lying and decide to take him 
and throw, him into deep hole. Old Goose tells Co5'ote to get on his back. Coyote 
at first objects, but at last does as he is told, and Goose flies up in air. Other Geese 
follow and take turns in carrying Coyote. They fly over timbered country away 
from lake and drop him into hollow trunk of tree. He can not get out, and is 
frightened almost to death. Fly comes and Coyote prays to him for power. Fly 
goes and brings Woodpecker, who, finding Coyote really wants to get out, fetches 
some of his brothers. They peck big hole in tree. Coyote tells them to stick their 
heads in and see if he can really get out, and then bites their heads off. After he 
has eaten Woodpeckers, Coyote escapes. 

62. COYOTE AND RABBIT KILL A BUFFALO. 

Rabbit hunts for food, and one day goes far away without finding any game. 
He is going home playing and singing when Coyote sees him. Coyote steps be- 
hind Rabbit, yells " Bo ! " and makes grab for him. Rabbit is frightened, but tells 
Coyote not to kill him, as he knows where is good fat buffalo. Rabbit leads way 
to where old buffalo stands. Rabljit tells Coyote to climb into animal. Coyote 
obeys, and Rabbit follows. They then begin to eat buffalo's side, and soon it falls 
dead. Old man comes and begins to butcher buffalo. Rabbit tells Coyote to hide 
in intestines, and he hides in bladder. Old man places intestines on one side, but 
throws bladder in bush, where Rabbit crawls out and escapes. Coyote is discovered 
and killed. 

63. COYOTE, MOUNTAIN-LION, AND RABBIT. 

Coyote hears crying like child. lie finds Mountain- Lion's den and yonng there 
alone. He is hungry, and kills and eats them all. Mother comes back with food for 
joung and can not find them. She follows Coyote many days, and when sitting 
on bank of river to rest sees Rabbit. She calls him and asks him to help her to 



134 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

capture Coyote. They go along river together and find deer. Mountain-Lion 
kills it. When they have butchered it she tells Rabbit to cover her face with fat 
and then put deer on her back. Rabbit then gets on top of deer. While crossing 
prairie some one calls out asking Rabbit where he got his fine horse. Rabbit pre- 
tends not to hear, and voice again calls to him. Rabbit goes on until Coyote 
catches up with him and tells him to get off, as horse is his. Rabbit jumps off, 
aud as Coyote is about to get on he stops to bite piece of fat off its face. He recog- 
nizes Mountain-Lion aud starts to run. Mountain-Lion springs upon him and kills 
him. 

64. COYOTE BECOMES A BUFFALO. 

Coyote meets Buffalo and asks him for power to turn into Buffalo and eat grass. 
Buffalo consents, and tells Coyote to stand facing other way and not to move. 
Buffalo throws up dirt with hoofs and makes plunge toward Coyote, who jumps 
out of way. This is repeated six times, but seventh time Coyote stands firm and 
Buffalo throws him up into air. When he comes down on feet he is very young 
Buffalo. He begins to eat grass at once. Old Buffalo tells him he can become 
Coyote again by rolling over two or three times in Buffalo wallow. He cautions 
him that power is good for only seven times, and that he must not give power to any 
one else. Buffalo then makes him change back into Coyote and leaves him. 
Coyote soon begins to try his power, and before meeting any one has tried it six 
times and has turned into Buffalo seventh time. He meets Coyote and asks him 
if he does not waut some of his power. He tells him to stand facing other way 
with eyes shut. He starts at him and at last attempt they both go into air and they 
both come down Coyotes. 

65. COYOTE AND THE TURKEYS. 

Coyote is looking for something to eat and hears voice. He goes and finds Tur- 
keys having fun by getting into sack and rolling down hill. Coyote lets Turkeys 
roll him down hill several times. Then he tells Turkeys to get into sack and he 
will roll them down. All crawl into sack and Coyote ties it fast at each end and 
starts for home with it. He calls his four sons and takes Turkey out ol sack. He 
tells sons to build big fire and the)- will have feast. They go to timber for wood 
and leave sack in charge of youngest son. Coyote tells him not to untie strings. 
Young Coyote unties strings and looks into sack to see what Turkeys are doing. 
Turkeys all run out and fly away. He does not know what to do, but finally fills 
sack vrith dirt. Father returns and says they will have fine feast. When he opens 
sack he finds ouly dirt. He is very angry and kills young son and eats him instead 
of Turkeys. 

66. COYOTE'S EYES ARE REPLACED BY BUCKEYES. 

Coyote is hunting and hears voices. He thinks they are turkeys making noise 
and goes to catch them. He finds Ducks playing in water and they'ask him to join 
them. He consents to play at taking eyes out. First Duck has eyes taken out, 
then he dives into water and his eyes are thrown after him. When he comes up 
he has them in place. .A.11 Ducks take turns. Then Coyote goes through same per- 
formance and comes out all right. Ducks have power to do almost anything, but 
to do it only once. Coyote wants to trj' trick again, but Ducks object. At last 
they take his eyes out and he dives into water. Ducks all fly away and leave 



ABSTRACTS. 135 

Coyote. He goes along talking and crying. Man finds him and goes to get some- 
thing to make him new eyes. He returns with green buckeye balls. He hits 
place of right eye with buckeye ball, and then place of left eye with another ball, 
and Co}-ote's eyes are restored. 

67. COYOTE AND TURTLE RUN A RACE. 

Coyote, returning from unsuccessful hunt for game, passes home of Turtle. 
Turtle invites him in and offers him something to eat. Turtle is tired and says 
he has just come back from races. Coyote and Turtle arrange to have race two 
days hence. Coyote sends son to announce race to Coyote people and tell them to bet 
heavily, as he would defeat Turtle. Turtle sends son to announce race, and that 
best runners are to come to his lodge. They come, and Turtle asks them to help 
him to cheat Coyote out of race. Each is to put white feather in his hair and to 
paint himself to look like Turtle. They are to station themselves at intervals 
along course. One is to start with Coyote and when far behind is to drop into 
grass. Then next one is to jump up and run, then next one, and so on until last. 
Turtle will be last and beat Coyote over goal. On day of race Turtles station them- 
selves along way in tall grass. Coyote comes and wants to run short distance, but 
Turtle insists on long distance. Many Coyotes come and bet on Coyote. They 
start and Coyotes laugh, for their man is far ahead. Soon to their surprise Turtle 
is ahead. Coyote overtakes Turtle, and they laugh again. They hear Turtles 
cheering and Turtle is far in lead. The race then goes on, and just as Coyote has 
passed Turtle and is near goal, Turtle crosses line and all Turtles set up loud cheer. 
Coyote runs off in grass and is wondering 3'et how Turtle beat him. All other 
Coyotes are angry because he makes them lose so many bets. 

68. COYOTE, WILD-C.\T, AND THE OLD WOMAN. 

Old blind woman lives alone. She always has plenty to eat. Whenever she 
sits down to eat she speaks as though talking to some one. Wild-Cat smells meat 
and goes in. He sees old woman is blind and slips quietly to corner. She speaks, 
but then begins to eat ; so Wrld-Cat slips over and begins to eat, too. He is careful 
not to make noise, and when little left in pot quietly slips away. He comes there 
every day and grows sleek and fat. Coyote meets him and asks where he gets so 
much to eat. Wild-Cat tells him and agrees to take him, on his promise to keep 
very quiet. They go and sit near door while meat cooking. They steal meat out 
of pot. Coyote forgets all about keeping quiet and cracks bone so loud that old 
woman jumps up. Wild-Cat gets out of house. Old woman runs to door and 
closes it. She takes long spear and pokes around room. Spear pierces Coyote. 
He cries out with pain, and she continues poking until she kills him. Wild-Cat 
comes next day and finds Coyote dead. He is sorry, because he is afraid to go to 
house again to eat. 

69. COYOTE CHALLENGES THE SNAKE. 

Coyote goes from place to place to find Snake. He stops to rest and soon hears 
some one calling him. Snake comes up, and Coyote, after referring to Snake's 
supposed power, says he wants to see which of them has most power. Snake 
agrees and suggests that they bite each other once. Coyote says snake is to bite 
first. Snake goes up to Coyote and bites him on top of nose. Coyote asks if that 



136 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 

is all Snake can do, and says he will sli ow his power. He comes to Snake and bites 
him nearly in two. They go little way o5 and lie down. Coyote calls to Snake 
and hears him answer in low voice. Snake then calls to Coyote, who answers with 
big voice. They keep calling to one another all night. Toward daylight Snake 
calls Coyote and no answer comes. After calling fourth time. Snake goes to see 
what is the matter and finds Coyote all swollen and dead. 

70. COYOTE TURNS INTO A CORN MILL. 

Women make corn mills from trunk of old tree. There are many such mills, 
but one very old and smooth, women like best. Woman pound? corn in old mill 
and when ground she sees she has only little. She watches other women and corn 
disappears in same way. They examine mill and woman suggests that they cut it 
with axe to see where com has gone. Mill falls over and Coyote jumps up and 
runs away. He has turned into corn mill, so that he can get all he wants to eat. 



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